Luffy and the Sky Pirates
by Gold Mamba
Summary: This is a take on the one piece story where luffy eats a different fruit. The story will be different in places and some new characters will be added
1. A Late Night Stroll Through the Jungle

**All right everyone this is my first fanfic. Ive decided to give Luffy a different fruit, add some new characters and change the storyline a bit. This story picks up on one of Luffy's excursions into a dangerous place courtesy of Garp. For Luffy im going to try and keep a similar personality to the canon but it might change a little here and there, still haven't decided. Im exchanging the treasured straw hat for something to be decided. Luffy will be able to use Haki, although he will be far from mastering any of the 3 forms. He will excel in the color of armament, have a small grasp of the color of observation but be completely unable to use the color of the conquerer until later in the story. Im also thinking of giving him some of the rokushiki fighting styles although i don't want to make him completely invincible so i haven't decided yet. Anyway with out further ado, here you go.**

_**I do not own One Piece. That belongs to Oda**_

**Late Night Stroll Through a Deadly Jungle**

It was nighttime in the jungle. Rain clouds had appeared in the dark sky and sent a light shower into the dense canopy of trees. The surrounding area only lit be splashes of moonlight that managed to find holes through the abundant foliage. The darkness caused by the amount of trees was no problem for the animal life found in the jungle; species that have adapted to the darkness with heightened sense of small, keen hearing and superior eyesight. In short the jungle was no place for a young boy, which is exactly where Monkey D. Luffy had woken to find himself.

Stretching his arms and letting out a yawn, Luffy stood up and rubbed his eyes sleepily, looking around. Wearing his favorite shirt (the one with the anchor on it) and a pair of blue shorts, he turned and came face to face with a spider monkey that had ventured to the forest floor and now hung upside down looking curiously at this animal it had never seen before. Upon seeing the spider monkey Luffy blinked furiously and rubbed his eyes again. Opening them slowly he came face to face with the spider monkey again. A few seconds passed before Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a scream causing the spider monkey to screech in fear. Swiping a paw at this unknown scary animal and just missing, it retreated higher into the trees. Stopping once it felt it was a safe distance from the screaming animal, the spider monkey continued to observe with curiosity.

Luffy, continuing to scream, took off running through the forest. After a short distance he tripped over a root that was sticking out of the ground and was sent sprawling into a nearby tree.

"ow, ow, ow." Luffy said aloud

"Who's there?" Said a voice from behind Luffy.

Luffy, surprised, turned in the direction of the voice. Seeing a tree where he thought the voice had come from, he knocked on the tree saying,

"Did you just talk to me tree?"

"I said who's there?" came the voice again.

Now Luffy was extremely curious. Knocking on the tree once again but this time getting no response, he turned away from it scratching his head.

"What kind of place did grandpa Garp send me this time? Crazy screeching monkey's and talking trees." Luffy said out loud

"What are you taking about?" said the tree again except this time a boy was standing next to the tree and clearly the owner of the voice.

"Ahhh," yelped Luffy in surprise upon noticing the boy. "Who are you?"

"Well not a tree for one, but my name is Fitz Ladhawk." Answered the boy.

He was about the same height as Luffy, wearing a short sleeve red button up shirt and a pair of black pants. He had dirty blonde hair and an air of intelligence that far exceeded his age.

"And who might you be?" Fitz asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"My name's Luffy." Luffy said with a big grin on his face.

"What are you doing out in the jungle?" Asked Luffy

"That's what I should be asking you." Said Fitz, amused by this boy.

Luffy tilted his head to one side apparently confused by what Fitz was saying.

"I live in a village just over there." Said Fitz pointing in the direction of a clearing and sure enough a village.

Luffy followed Fitz's finger and when he saw the village his eyes widened and his mouth opened, his chin almost hitting the floor.

"WHAT? HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT?" Luffy asked in complete confusion.

Seeing the village Luffy began to think of everything that came with a village:

Houses

Meat

Village people

Meat

Beginning to drool he turned to Fitz saying,

"I'm starving. Is there any meat in your village?"

"Hhahaah," laughed Fitz. "Of course there is meat." He said as he started walking in the direction of his village.

"Why don't you come to my house and have a bite to eat."

Of course Luffy was all for the idea of eating something so he followed close behind Fitz.

"You should probably stay the night too. You'll probably get eaten if you sleep out here." Said Fitz nonchalantly, pretending not to notice Luffy looking all around for potential predators.

**((Flash Forward))**

After eating their fill Luffy and Fitz went exploring on the outskirts of the village.

"You know Luffy, the villagers here are always talking about the legend of this jungle," Fitz said, "It's said that there are fruits in this jungle that grant the eater a certain power. Nobody knows for certain where the fruit is or what the power is but they whisper about it giving the person who consumes it the ability to control and become air. What do you think?"

"Sugei!" Yelled Luffy with stars in his eyes, "we should go look for it."

"We can try," said Fitz, "but I doubt we will find anything."

So Fitz and Luffy made their way through the forest. They had been walking for about an hour when they stopped to rest near a river. Sitting on the massive roots of one of the trees, Luffy noticed something strange. A tail seemingly belonging to no one, was swishing back and forth by the root Luffy and Fitz were sitting on. Thinking back to the spider monkey that had scared him and then apparently not thinking at all Luffy stomped on the tail and in response came a deafening roar.

Luffy turned to Fitz and screamed.

"RUUUUUUUN!"

So they took off through the forest, somehow keeping ahead of whatever ferocious cat Luffy had pissed off, they stuck close to the river. Ducking and bobbing and weaving through the tress and various obstacles of the forest, they managed to stay ahead of the deadly feline until they came to a cliff where the river turned into a waterfall. They could hear the roaring of water hitting water, as the waterfall slammed into the lake below. Fitz was the first to arrive at the cliff stopping just short of falling but he didn't have much time to think, as Luffy was right behind him. He was looking back trying to find the thing they were running from when he ran right into Fitz, sending them both careening over the edge of the cliff and splashing into the lake. Pulling themselves to shore and breathing heavily, Luffy noticed a pathway that went behind the waterfall.

Following the pathway, Luffy and Fitz came to find a cave just inside the waterfall. There were holes in the roof of the cave, allowing moonlight to illuminate the room.

In the center of the cave there was a tree with one fruit on it.

"Ahh!" Fitz exclaimed, "This must be it. The legendary air fruit."

The fruit hanging loosely from the tree was pear shaped and a dark green color with white swirls on it.

"Luffy I'm going to eat it. I've always wondered what it would be like to fly."

"That's ok," Luffy said, "Ill just eat this fruit I found on the ground over here. I mean it looks ok and I'm hungry."

Held in Luffy's hand was a cream-colored apple shaped fruit with white swirls on it.

Fitz, not bothering to look over at Luffy, had plucked the pear shaped fruit off the tree and eaten the whole thing in one bite. Luffy, watching Fitz, shrugged his shoulders and did the same.

"Ack, 'cough' 'cough'. That is one fowl tasting fruit." Protested Fitz.

"Argh 'cough'. Mine tasted awful too." Said Luffy. "But somehow I feel really light."

Fitz turned to look at Luffy and his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Luffy that might be because YOU'RE FLOATING," yelled Fitz "And what happened to your feet?"

Luffy looked down to see that his feet were no longer there.

"AHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FEET…AND WHY AM I FLOATING. AHHH! MAKE IT STOP." Screamed a panicked Luffy

No sooner had he thought the words and his feet reappeared as he fell back to the ground.

"Wooah," stated Luffy, "That was weird."

Fitz looking troubled pulled out a devil fruit guidebook and flipped through it hurriedly.

"Luffy, what color was the fruit you just ate?" He asked

"I don't know. I think it was creamy colored and had these white swirls on it, but it tasted terrible."

Fitz's face went pale.

"You ate the air fruit." He stated plainly.

"Hmm well I guess that does explain why I was floating just a second ago." Luffy said

Fitz went through the whole encyclopedia back to front.

"I can't find the one I ate anywhere in here." Said a panicked Fitz

"Maybe it hasn't been discovered yet." Offered Luffy

And with that the Luffy and Fitz left and tried to find their way back to the village.

**((Flash Forward))**

Luffy and Fitz arrived back at the village to find Garp waiting.

"You ready to go Luffy?" asked Garp, with a grin on his face.

"Yea grandpa but can we take Fitz with us?" asked Luffy hopefully. "He's my friend."

"Well it's up to Fitz's parent's." replied Garp.

"Actually my parents aren't here. I'm staying with friends of my parents. They went off into the world searching for something a couple months ago and haven't come back since but I would really like to come with you guys."

"Well how about that. I don't see any reason why you can't." stated Garp, grinning even wider.

"Sugei! Now we can both become pirates together" Yelled Luffy only to get a smack on the back of his head from Garp.

"What did I tell you about that pirate talk. You will be a marine and nothing else." Said Garp, a frown on his face now.

Fitz smiled thinking to himself.

"This could be fun."

**((END CHAPTER))**

**Ok finished with the first chapter. Phew that was a lot easier to write than i thought it would be. Anyways please review. I'll probably release a couple more chapters soon to get the ball rolling but soon ill be implementing a chapter release for every 5-10 reviews or something like that but we shall see.**

**seeya**


	2. An Unusual Day

**Another chapter to give you guys more of an idea as to where the story will be going. Although I won't give too much away, I'm hoping there is enough to keep you guys happy until I release the next chapter.**

**I don't own One Piece. Not even a little bit.**

**An Unusual Day**

It was a beautiful sunny day in windmill village, Shanks and his crew had just set sail and Luffy and Fitz were at the dock, waving goodbye. Turning towards the town, they started walking back to the bar to get out of the hot sun. Entering the bar through the swinging saloon doors and seeing Makino finishing cleaning the mess left behind by the pirates, Luffy and Fitz took their usual seats at the bar. Fitz took out a book from his back pants pocket and adjusting his glasses he began to read. Luffy rested his head against the bar not in a good mood at the moment. 

"Arrrgh," protested Luffy. "He didn't take us with him again."

"It does seem that way," said Fitz, sarcastically.

"I wanna be a pirate too," pouted Luffy. 

As the conversation went back and forth and finally Fitz, trying to ignore Luffy, concentrated on his book, having read the same line seven times. Neither of them noticed the tall man with the green cloak come in and sit at the bar. Taking down his hood, Makino noticed he had a tattoo on the right side of his face, as she came over to get his order. 

"What will it be," she asked the strange man.

"I'll have a bottle of sake." The man said in a gruff voice. "Oh and do you happen to know where I can find Monkey D. Luffy?"

Luffy, now noticing the man, at the mention of his name called over to the mystery man.

"I'm Luffy. Who are you?" Luffy asked 

Looking over at the boy the man stood and walked over to the table Luffy and Fitz were sitting at.

"Well Luffy, I'm your father." Stated the man, quite casually given the situation.

"My name is Monkey D. Dragon."

"Suge," Luffy yelled with stars in his eyes. "Hey Fitz look, I have a father."

Dragon laughed at this reaction as he sat down at the bar. 

After talking with Luffy and Fitz for a while and a bottle of sake later, Dragon began telling them his real purpose for reuniting with his son.

"Luffy, I'm the leader of the revolutionary army," he said, in a hushed voice so only the three of them could hear. 

"I've been watching you for a while and it seems you've eaten one of the devil fruits."

"Yeah it's the air one," Luffy said, proudly, "check it out." 

Luffy, standing on the table and getting into a position as if he was going to punch dragon, extended his arm and shouted, _AIR BLAST_. As he extended his arm, a current of air was released from his fist and hit Dragon in the chest, sending him flying across the bar.

Laughing loudly as he got himself up and dusted himself off, he walked back to the table telling Makino that he would pay for the damages.

"That's quite a punch you've got there," Dragon said, as he sat back down.

"It seems that you have a devil fruit power as well. Would you mind showing me?" Dragon asked Fitz. 

Fitz put down his book and set his glasses on the table. Taking off his shirt and stepping back from the table, he began to transform. Black leathery wings sprouted from his shoulder blades as a thick black fur covered his body. His muscles bulged as he underwent the transformation and razor sharp claws sprouted from his fingers and toes. His head kept relatively the same structure except that his mouth and nose jutted outward from his face a little more to make room for the long fangs that had now taken the place as his teeth. His hair turned from a dirty blonde to a flowing black mane and he grew a long tail complete with a sharp blade at the end of it. On the tips of his wings and what would be the shoulders of his wings, a sharp blade like bone stuck out looking menacing. 

"My my. That is quite a powerful Zoan fruit you've eaten Fitz," Dragon said in admiration of the deadly looking creature he had become.

"What am I," asked Fitz timidly.

"You ate an extremely rare mythical zoan devil fruit called the Gāgoiru Gāgoiru no Mi (Gargoyle Gargoyle devil fruit). It's a fruit i have only heard of through rumor." Dragon said.

Fitz looked relived to have finally figured out what manner of beast he transformed into.

"One with the Kuuki Kuuki no Mi (Air Air Devil Fruit) and one with the Gāgoiru Gāgoiru no Mi," Dragon said, chuckling to himself. "And what do you two plan to do with such powers?" he asked?

"IM GONNA BE THE PIRATE KING!" shouted Luffy.

"Ho ho a lofty goal. What about you Fitz?" Dragon asked

"I want to travel the world like my parents are doing and maybe ill be able to find them someday, so I've decided to join Luffy on his journey" said Fitz proudly.

"Well then how about I train the two of you so that you will be powerful enough to achieve your goals?" asked Dragon with a smile

"And maybe the two of you can help me at points along your journey." 

Luffy and Fitz, having transformed back to normal and put his shirt and glasses back on, smiled at each other and both at the same time said,

"DEFINITELY!"

"Alright, on a more serious note, I need both of you to promise that you won't tell anyone about me. That is my only requirement to train the both of you," said Dragon, no longer grinning to show the seriousness of his request.

"Of course," they both said 

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

We find Luffy and Fitz at the dock seeing off the red-haired pirates. Before Shanks leaves he gives Luffy two things, a pair of black goggles with one cracked lens and the other completely missing, and a white scarf. 

"These are my treasures Luffy. Return them to me when you reach the top," Shanks said placing both items in Luffy's outstretched hands 

To the left of Luffy, Ben Beckmann kneels down to be at eye level with Fitz, apparently having taken a liking to the boy. Reaching in his pocket he takes out a silver chain attached to a silver pocket watch. The inside of the pocket watch is lined with small diamonds.

"I know being with this rascal (pointing to Luffy) will be trying so for emergencies you can sell some of the diamonds to get some cash and plus it's always good to know the time." Beckmann said appearing to be unused to goodbyes 

Fitz looks at the watch as Beckmann rises and hugs his leg a small tear escaping his eye.

Luffy, completely unable to control himself, is sobbing as Shanks ruffles his hair and heads back to his ship with Beckmann, the rest of the crew already aboard.

"SET SAIL," roars Shanks and looking back at Luffy he yells

"BECOME A GREAT PIRATE LUFFY!" 

**((END CHAPTER))**

**And there you go. Hope you enjoyed it. I know this one is a short chapter but I didn't need a long chapter to point the story in the right direction. I am not a psychic. Sometimes I wish I was but, alas, I am not so I need your reviews to know what is on your minds.**

**Until next time**


	3. A Meeting By Chance

**Oh would you look at that. A new chapter and so soon haha… but seriously…**

**I hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own One Piece no matter how hard I wish that I did.**

**A Meeting by Chance**

**((10 years later))**

Luffy and Fitz are finally setting sail in a small fishing boat that they were given by a fisherman of the village. The people from Windmill Village all came to see them off and wave to them as they set out to sea. Standing up on the small boat, they both wave back. Luffy, wearing white shorts frayed at the knees, a black long sleeve button up shirt left open showing his well toned body and a pair of light brown sandals. Blowing in the wind around his neck is the scarf that Shanks gave him and on his head, the black goggles. The lenses, having been replaced, were now a shade of gold that glistened in the sun. Belted to his waist on the left side was a saber with a black handle and a silver guard. Belted on his right side was a silver revolver with a wooden handle.

Fitz was wearing black pants with a tint of purple in the threading along with a silver short sleeve button up shirt, choosing to leave it buttoned, save for the two at the top, fitting his down to earth personality. Wearing black sandals, he adjusted his glasses with his left hand as he took out a book from his back pocket with his right and began reading.

As they get further into the open ocean there was a disturbance in the surface of the water. Luffy noticing just as a Sea King broke through the water, its yellow scales glittering in the sunlight. It had a large blue fin that jutted out from its head and progressively got smaller as it went down its body reaching its blue tail fin. Snarling with menacing red eyes and large fangs, it looked down on what it thought was it's lunch with greed.

"Oh, Oh. Check it out Fitz. It's the Lord of the Coast." Luffy said, pointing excitedly at the oversized carnivorous fish and turning to look at Fitz.

"This is the perfect time to test out one of my new moves." He said.

Turning back to the Sea King, which had begun to lunge at the small fishing boat, Luffy swiped his arm through the air creating a circle in front of him.

"Wait! Luffy! Don't!" yelled Fitz, but it was too late.

_WHIRLWIND! _Shouted Luffy, as he let his arm fall back to his side and just before the Sea King chomped down on the tiny fishing boat, it was lifted out of the ocean by what could only be described as a full force tornado. The Sea King was thrown around by the intense winds and finally thrown out of the tornado, it was sent flying across the ocean only to disappear in the horizon.

"Sugei! Did you see that Fitz? Did you see that? Look how far it went," shouted Luffy with glee.

He had failed to notice that his tornado had caused a whirlpool to form in the water.

"Damn it Luffy. Do you ever use your brain?" questioned Fitz angrily, as the boat was tossed around by the rough waves.

Luffy looked at Fitz and tilted his head to one side questioningly.

"Alright you got us into this mess, now get us out before we're sucked into that whirlpool." Said Fitz quite commonly given the situation.

Leaving Luffy to handle the situation, Fitz leaned up against the side of the boat and continued to read.

"Sure thing." Luffy said as the boat began to lift off the water.

"Which way should we go?" asked Luffy

"I don't know. How about… that way," Fitz offered, pointing in a random direction away from windmill village.

"Alright," said Luffy.

Before Luffy even finished his sentence the boat took off through the sky in the direction Fitz had pointed. Luffy allowed the fishing boat to fly through the air a little while longer before releasing his hold over it. This turned out to be a mistake because at the speed the boat was moving, as soon as it hit the water it shattered into pieces sending both Luffy and Fitz flying.

As they went careening across the ocean, Luffy was laughing hysterically as he somersaulted through the air, his white scarf clinging to his neck and flowing freely through the air. Fitz, not having moved from his original position, licked his finger and turned the page of his book to continue reading as if nothing happened. As they continued to fly through the air, Luffy keeping both of them aloft while having the time of his life, a marine ship came into view.

"Oh! A ship. I bet they have some food," exclaimed Luffy as he sent them toward the ship

Fitz put his book in his back pocket and turned in midair to face the ship. He was always wary when it came to Luffy stopping at the right time so he prepared himself. Once they reached the ship Fitz, going in feet first, shouted _Geppo_ as he kicked the air rapidly to slow himself down for a smooth landing. Luffy, having absolute control of the air came to a complete stop, just inches before running into the guard rail of the ship and stepped lightly onto the railing.

"Food, food, food. Where's the food?" questioned Luffy as he went into a crouched position on the railing and sniffed the air.

"Luffy we probably shouldn't stay long. This is a marine vessel." Said Fitz casually.

"No problem. Lets just eat something and then go." Said a drooling Luffy as he followed the scent of food in the air.

"We should get another boat as well. I think it would appear rather conspicuous flying through the air." Said Fitz more to himself than Luffy.

"Sure thing," Luffy said, opening a door labeled storehouse.

As Luffy and Fitz entered the storehouse, the Alvida pirates pulled up along side the Marine ship.

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

"COBY! WHERE ARE YOU?" yelled a pirate

"Over here." Squeaked a small boy with pink hair and glasses too big for his face.

"Alvida told us to make sure you don't try anything." Said the pirate who was now joined with two more of his crewmates

"Hey is that a storeroom over there?" asked one of the pirates in a gruff voice.

"Looks like it," said the first.

"I bet there is some good rum in there." Replied the third as they opened the door to the storeroom.

As soon as they opened the door a big gust of wind blew all three pirates into the guardrail.

"See Fitz I told you I could open the door without touching it." Said a proud Luffy

Fitz just shook his head and readjusted his glasses.

"Oh, who are you?" asked Luffy, upon noticing the small boy with pink hair and glasses.

"M-m-my names C-c-coby," stuttered the frightened boy. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Luffy and this is Fitz. We're looking for a boat do you know where we can find one?" asked Luffy.

"Um I don't know I'm on this ship because the Alvida pirates are looting it. Speaking of Alvida, you guy's better get away from here. If Alvida knows you knocked out some of her crew you'll be killed." Said Coby in a high-pitched, frightened voice.

"So you're a pirate huh? asked Luffy

"N-n-no I got onto Alvida's ship by mistake. I thought it was a fishing boat." Coby said, embarrassed for himself.

"Shihihi," laughed Luffy "You idiot."

This made Coby turn read with even more embarrassment.

"But I won't stay with Alvida forever. Someday I will be a marine and I'll catch pirates like Alvida." Said Coby proudly.

"Exactly who are you going to catch? Huh Coby?" said a voice that sent chills down Coby's spine.

Turning around, Coby came face to face with an extremely fat, extremely ugly lady. Seeing her iron mace, he squeaked in fear.

"Who's this fat lady?" asked Luffy, causing Coby's mouth to open and his eyes to nearly bulge out of their sockets.

The three pirates that Luffy had knocked out before came to and started whispering to each other.

"Do you think that's Roronoa Zoro?" Asked one.

"Maybe he came for Alvida's head." Commented another.

"I wonder who the other guy is." Said the third pirate.

Hearing the whisperings of her crew Alvida turned to Luffy and swung her iron mace down on him shouting,

"Who's head did you come for?"

Luffy didn't move an inch as the iron mace just passed right through him, crashing into the planks of the ship. Fitz had been watching patiently the whole time but had gotten fed up with this fat, ugly lady attacking Luffy.

Slowly walking towards Alvida, Fitz adjusted his glasses.

_Soru_, he said and to everyone watching he disappeared.

Fitz reappeared a fraction of a second later right in front of Alvida and delivered an uppercut to her chin, sending her flying across the ocean.

"I guess I didn't get to hit her," said Luffy as he reappeared exactly where he was before causing everyone's eyes to bulge out of their heads and their mouths to hit the floor.

"Oi," Luffy shouted at Alvida's crew. "Get me, Fitz and Coby a boat. Coby wants to go become a marine."

"Yes sir," shouted Alvida's crew as they all scampered to find a boat for these fearsome people.

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

Luffy, Fitz and Coby were now sitting on a small fishing boat on the open ocean.

"Where are we headed now?" asked Coby as the small boat was rocked by the waves.

"Well those guys mentioned a guy named Roronoa Zoro, so im gonna go see if he's a good guy and if he is ill have him join my pirate crew." Stated Luffy. "Oh by the way where is he?"

"But that guy is a demon and besides his been captured by the marines and is being held prisoner at a marine base on a nearby island." Said Coby.

"Well that makes things easier." Stated Fitz. "You can become a marine and we can see if Zoro is fit for our crew."

"You guys said you are pirates right? Then what is your dream?" asked Coby curiously.

"IM GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!" shouted Luffy.

"And I'm just following this guy." Said Fitz, pointing at Luffy with his thumb.

Coby started to object saying it would be impossible but Luffy just ignored him.

"Onward to the Marine base to get a new crew member." Yelled Luffy and the boat picked up speed and shot off towards the island.

**((END CHAPTER))**

**All right. Another one in the books. You know the drill and if you don't know the drill than you should learn the drill. It would save us both some time.**

**Drill = Read and than Review and than maybe get off the computer for a while, you know go outside, get some sun and than read some more… and review **

**Until next time**


	4. Freeing A New Friend

**Hey ****it's me again bringing you all another chapter. Please enjoy.**

**I do not own One Piece.  
><strong>

**Freeing a New Friend**

Arriving to the Marine base island at a ridiculous speed, Luffy stopped the boat just before it destroyed the dock, sending both Fitz and Coby flying towards a nearby house. Luffy had no problem and started walking as soon as the boat stopped. Fitz, shouting _Geppo, _kicked off the air rapidly to slow himself down. Sticking out his left hand, he caught Coby just before he hit the house, saving him from a bruise or two. Fitz adjusted his glasses and followed Luffy down the street through the town, while Coby walked behind them looking at the two monsters with amazement.

"Hey Coby," Luffy said, turning to Coby as they walked through the town.

"You're a good navigator. We actually got to the place we were going." He finished with an ear-to-ear grin.

"Well that's the basics of navigating," Said Coby timidly.

"Where's food," asked Luffy choosing to ignore Coby's answer and look around the town curiously.

"That looks like a good place over there." Fitz said, pointing to a small restaurant. "We'll eat there and then go to the marine base."

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

"Looks like this is where we part ways," Luffy said to Coby as the stopped in front of the doors to the marine base.

An 8ft high brick wall surrounded the base and the entrance was two, 3ft thick, iron doors. There were six building that could be seen from the front, for of which looked like ordinary houses with canons on the roofs. The two main buildings were in the center and resembled large cones that had their tops cut off. The smaller cone-like building was slightly in front of the other but the other, being twice as tall, was clearly visible.

"I don't think I'm prepared yet," said Coby.

While Coby was talking, Luffy found some boxes and propped them against the wall so that he could stand on them and look over.

"I wonder if Zoro is around here," said Luffy as he made his way up the makeshift ladder of boxes.

"No way, he would be out in the open. He must be in a dark cell somewhere under the base." Coby replied as he slowly made his way up to look over the wall.

Fitz, content staying on the ground, sat on an extra box and began reading.

"Is that him?" asked Luffy as he pointed to the man that was tied to a cross in the middle of the field.

Coby had finally made it high enough on the wall to look over but as soon as he did he promptly fell all the way back down.

"Y-y-yeah that's h-h-him." Stuttered Coby completely scared of Zoro's presence.

The man that Coby was so frightened of was an average sized, muscular young man. He wore a black bandanna tied around his head, a loose white shirt that had three-button placket at the neck, a green haramaki around his waist and black pants tucked into his black boots. On his left ear were three identical, golden earrings.

Both his forearms were pulled back behind the horizontal bar of the cross and tied at the elbow. He was also tied to the vertical post around his waist, his feet sticking outward as the result of being unable to stand up straight.

Coby slowly made his way back up the pile of boxes but be the time he was able to look over the wall, Luffy had disappeared.

"So you're Roronoa Zoro," Luffy said as he appeared in front of Zoro.

"Where did he come from?" Thought Zoro. "I must be more exhausted than I thought."

Just then two marines opened the gate to the field and escorted another young man in, wearing what looked like an expensive suit. He had a huge cleft chin and his blonde hair was cut in the shape of a football.

"Run!" Whispered Zoro urgently but when he looked up there was no one there. 

"Wait for me by the gate," said the young man to the two marines that had escorted him.

"Yes Helmeppo sir." They replied

"I didn't think you had this kind of endurance," Helmeppo said, as he looked Zoro up and down. "I came out here because I thought you'd be dead by now."

"You better keep your promise you bastard son!" Spat Zoro, looking at the young man with disgust.

"You better watch your tongue Zoro. You know my dad is Captain Morgan right?" he asked as he turned to walk away.

"I will keep my promise. If you survive the rest of the month I will release you," were his final words before the gate closed and he was gone. 

"You again?" said Zoro in surprise as he noticed Luffy standing in front of him again. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for someone to join my pirate crew." Answered Luffy. "I was thinking of releasing you so you could join me."

"Ill never become a pirate." Said Zoro "Because I have something that I have to do."

"And besides ill last to the end of the month and be free of this place without your help." 

"Wait!" squeaked Coby as he ran up to Luffy and Zoro, having climbed over the wall.

"I just heard Helmeppo bragging to those two marines that he is going to execute you tomorrow."

"Well that decides it then." Said Luffy happily.

"Fine, if you free me from here I will join you but first you have to get my katanas from that bastard son." Said Zoro.

"All right. I'll be right back." Luffy said as he turned around and walked towards the gate. 

"Hey! Fitz!" Luffy shouted. "He said he would join if we get his katanas."

Fitz climbed over the wall and joined Luffy as they walked towards the main base.

"All right!" Luffy said as they came to the entrance of the main building. "Lets start on the roof. I'll race you too the top." He said as his feet disappeared and he took off towards the roof.

"Hey you got a head start," shouted Fitz as spiky, leathery wings sprouted from his back and he sped off to the top of the building. 

On the roof of the main building stood Captain Morgan, otherwise known as Axe-Hand Morgan, giving orders as all the Marines on the base were struggling to erect a giant statue of Morgan himself.

Captain (Axe-Hand) Morgan was a large man with tan skin. He wore the Marine overcoat on his shoulders and his most distinguishing features were his iron chin and of course the axe that was imbedded in his fore arm. 

"Be careful you idiots!" roared Morgan. "If anyone of you harms that statue in anyway I will personally execute you."

"Yes Sir!" came the reply for the marines as they struggled to pull the ropes that kept the statue from falling.

"Hahaha," laughed Luffy as he landed on the face of the statue. "I beat you Fitz."

"That's only because you had a head start." Fitz replied as he landed next to the statue having already hid his wings so as not to attract attention but being with Luffy it probably wouldn't have made a difference. 

"AHHHHH!" screamed Luffy.

"What is it Luffy?" asked a worried Fitz.

"I just landed on a giant FACE!" he yelled as he stomped on the statues face.

This caused the marines to lose control of their ropes and sent the statue towards the roof where it shattered into pieces. 

"Damn it Luffy," Fitz said to himself as he grabbed a marine by the back of his uniform.

"Take me to Helmeppo's room. Now!" yelled Fitz at the Marine

"O-o-of course just don't hurt me." Said the marine

"Luffy! Follow me," shouted Fitz as he went through the door and down into the main base. 

"Here this is it. Helmeppo's room." Said the marine.

"Alright, now get out of here." Fitz said as he threw him down the hall.

"Good job Fitz." Luffy said as he appeared next to Fitz inside Helmeppo's room.

"Alright grab his swords and lets get back down to Zoro." Said Fitz as he looked out the window.

"Luffy! Hurry up and get down there. The marines are gonna execute Zoro now!"

Grabbing the three swords that were propped up against the fireplace. Luffy ran towards the window and disappeared. 

On the field Coby was trying to untie Zoro as the marines lined up, pointing their rifles at Zoro and Coby.

"READY! AIM! FIRE!" Shouted Morgan.

While the bullets were headed towards Zoro and Coby, Luffy appeared between them and the projectiles. He put out his hand and shouted, _AIR FREEZE_.

Zoro blinked his eyes because he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The six bullets that were fired were now covered in ice and were stopped in midair. The marines, just as confused as Zoro, could feel their mouths gaping open in surprise.

Luffy gave a childish grin before he yelled, _AIR BLAST_. The six bullets that were hanging in the air were sent back at the marines, each bullet flying into the guns that fired them, making a small explosion in each firearm and causing the marines holding the guns to drop them. 

Fitz, who had flown down unseen in the confusion, untied Zoro.

"Here you go Zoro." Luffy said as he handed Zoro his three katanas. "Lets see what you got.

"If guns don't work attack with your swords," yelled Morgan furiously.

The six marines that had fired grabbed their swords and charged towards Zoro. All of them went for downward slices, intending to cut him in half but Zoro had other plans.

Stopping all six swords above his head with the two katanas in his hands and the one in his mouth, he pushed them all back with brute strength causing them to fall down.

As they got back up, intending to charge again, Fitz transformed his hand into a gargoyle claw and said, _Soru._ He disappeared for about a second and a half and reappeared standing next to Luffy, his hand back to normal. 

The six marines that were charging all stopped and screamed as blood gushed from the claw wound that went from shoulder to hip on each of their bodies.

"ARGH, you worthless scum," yelled Morgan at the fallen marines. "I have to do everything myself." He said as he shrugged off his overcoat and began to charge.

Luffy took out the silver revolver that he had belted on his right side. Pointing it at Morgan, he pulled the trigger three times. 

There was no recoil and no sound at all. The only evidence that Luffy had fired was the fact that Morgan flew backwards and went through the side of the main base.

"What was that?" questioned Zoro.

"I ate the air air devil fruit," responded Luffy with a grin. "I can become and control the air and for that attack I compressed the air in the empty chambers of my revolver and let the guns mechanism do the rest."

"What about before when you stopped those bullets and turned them to ice?" asked Zoro again.

"For that I increased the density of the air around each bullet. When I increase the density the air gets colder but I didn't actual freeze the bullets, I just froze the air around them."

"Wow," said Zoro, impressed by his new captains power. "Looks like I made a good choice in joining your crew." 

While Luffy and Zoro were talking, Morgan managed to pick himself out of the rubble.

Noticing Morgan moving again Luffy began to walk towards him.

"STOP!" came a high-pitched scream. 

Luffy turned in the direction of the voice to see Helmeppo holding a gun to Coby's head.

"If you move another step I'll kill this boy." Yelled Helmeppo.

"Oi, Luffy, you need help with this?" asked Fitz and Zoro in unison.

They both looked at each other confusedly and then back at Luffy pretending nothing happened.

"Nah, I got this," said Luffy, as he cocked his fist

"Hey…I-I-I told you not to move or Ill shoot." Yelled Helmeppo unconvincingly 

Luffy, taking no heed to the cowardly boy's demands cocked his fist and delivered a punch seemingly at nothing, shouting _ADJUSTMENT PUNCH_. As soon as the words left his mouth he disappeared.

Everyone that was watching felt their mouths gaping open and their eyes bulging from their sockets out of surprise.

Luffy then appeared behind Helmeppo, the punch he had thrown at nothing before was now heading towards the back of Helmeppo's head.

Luffy's fist made contact with Helmeppo's head and sent him flying across the field. Allowing the momentum his body had from the force of the punch to flip him upside down in the air.

Luffy then did a scissor kick in the air kicking out with his left foot and shouting, _CORRECTION KICK_, he disappeared again.

Luffy then appeared right in front of Captain Morgan and allowing the momentum of the scissor kick he executed before to carry his foot right under Captain Morgan's chin, he sent Morgan flying straight up. 

Luffy, appearing next to Zoro, and shading his eyes, watched as Captain Morgan came hurtling back to the ground.

"Woah! He sure went high," Luffy said to Zoro.

"Yeah, he did," replied Zoro. Turning towards the source of the voice and seeing Luffy, Zoro jumped back in surprise.

"WAHH, don't just appear next to someone like that," yelled Zoro, his eyes bulging out of his head and his teeth razor sharp. 

When Morgan finally hit the ground the force of him crashing to earth caused a dust cloud to spread circularly away from the impact point.

As the dust cleared Zoro walked forward to stop on Luffy's left side as he sheathed his katanas. Fitz walked forward and stood at Luffy's right asking,

"What should we do about the rest of these guys?"

The marines, finally able to see that their captain had been beaten, threw their weapons down and their hats in the air shouting,

"WE'RE FINALLY FREE! HE DID IT! HE BEAT CAPTAIN MORGAN!"

As the cheers rang out Zoro collapsed. 

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

After getting some food, Luffy, Fitz and Zoro were at the dock getting ready to leave.

"What is the plan now captain?" asked Zoro as he untied one of the ropes keeping the small boat from being taken out to sea.

"We're going to the Grand Line to find One Piece so that I can become the Pirate King," responded Luffy casually.

"I figured it was something like that. It's a good place to go if I'm going to become the greatest swordsman in the world." Said Zoro.

"I would expect nothing less from one of the Pirate Kings crew members." Answered Luffy with a grin.

"Speaking of swords, that's a nice one you have on your side do you ever use it?" asked Zoro as he untied the last rope.

"No not really. My dad, who trained me, insisted I learn to use one but I don't really like using it that much." Replied Luffy honestly. 

"Ok, we've got some supplies and a new crew member, I think it's time to go." Said Fitz after loading what supplies they could fit on the small fishing boat.

As the all got into the boat and start moving out to sea, Coby came running to the dock.

"YEES! I'm a marine now," he yelled "Thanks Luffy. Its all because of he you," he said as he saluted the pirates.

Luffy just smiled and waved.

"All right, lets head to the Grand Line." Yelled Luffy as he turned back towards the open sea.

The boat began to lift off the ground.

"Oh yeah. Lets go to the grand line now, with just the three of us in this tiny boat. Sounds like a great idea." Fitz said sarcastically as the tiny boat took off through the air. 

**((END CHAPTER))  
><strong>

**Alright another one done. Let me know what you think of Luffy with his new power.**

**Until next time  
><strong>


	5. A Parting Clown

**Hello, hello, hello, here's another one for your viewing pleasure.**

**I do not own One Piece.**

**A Parting Clown**

Luffy, Fitz and Zoro were walking down the middle of the street having reached Orange Town without incident. The food supplies they got at the Marine Base Island were already gone. They were stopping to resupply when they noticed someone running towards them.

"Who's that?" asked Luffy.

"It looks like a girl." Replied Fitz

"And she's being chased by three men that look like pirates." Added Zoro.

As the girl came closer, they could see more of what she looked like.

She had orange hair and wore a white t-shirt that had blue around the collar and sleeves along with blue strips that went around the chest and stomach area with two strips around the bottom fringe of the shirt. She had an orange miniskirt on that had a white circle on each side as well as orange boots that came up to the middle of her shins.

Spotting the three of them, the girl slowed down a little to let the pirates chasing her catch up. Once she reached Luffy, who was walking ahead of Zoro and Fitz, she hid behind him.

"Oh good, boss you're here. I'll let you deal with these guys," she said loud enough for the three chasing her to hear and then she took off running away from where a fight was bound to break out.

"Damn it. There she goes again." Said one of the pirates.

"That's alright. We've got her boss right here." Another one said.

"Hmm. It looks like they want to fight," said Fitz adjusting his glasses.

"I guess we'll have to give them what they want," said Luffy repositioning his goggles on his head and scratching where they had been

"Sure thing captain, I guess we'll each take one," said Zoro with a smile.

If a normal person had been watching it would have seemed like the three pirates that were attacking fell unconscious for no reason. To someone with a trained eye, (this person would have to be extremely well trained) they would have seen Zoro perform a blindingly fast _Quick Draw_ attack and knock one pirate out with the back of his sword.

They would have seen Fitz use _Soru_ and knock another one out with a quick yet powerful jab and they would have seen Luffy do nothing as the pirate attacking him fell unconscious.

"What did you just do to him?" asked Zoro curiously.

"I just strengthened the air in front of him and let him knock himself unconscious," said Luffy with a grin.

"Wow you guys are really strong. I didn't even see you guys move," the girl said with admiration as she jumped down from an overhang of a nearby house.

"Who are you?" asked Luffy.

"I'm a thief that only steals from pirates. My name is Nami. Do you want to be partners with me?" She asked hopefully.

"Nice to meet you Nami but the answer is no." Luffy said as the three of them continued up the street.

"Wait up," Nami said as she walked after them. "What are you guys doing here anyways?" She asked.

"We're just here to get more food supplies." Answered Fitz. "And what do you do besides thieving?" he asked

"I'm a navigator and I draw maps." Nami replied

"You're a navigator?" Asked Luffy.

"The best in east blue!" she answered proudly.

"Then you should join my pirate crew. We're going to the grand line and I'm gonna become the pirate king." Luffy said happily

"No way! I won't be a pirate. I just steal from them." Said Nami

"By the way, who were those guys that were chasing you?" asked Zoro

"Their part of Buggy the Pirate's crew and they were chasing me because I stole this map of the grand line. I just wish I could have gotten his treasure too." Said Nami sadly.

"How about this, If we help you get Buggy's treasure then you be our navigator." Proposed Fitz

"Yeah yeah that sounds good let's do that," said Luffy excitedly

"Hmmm," Nami said as she thought it over. "Ok fine, if you can help me get his treasure than ill be ok with a temporary partnership."

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

Luffy, Nami, Zoro and Fitz walked to the place where Buggy's base was supposed to be. When they got there from the top of a building they heard.

"Ready the Canon."

"Hmm I wonder what they're doing up there," said Luffy.

"Oh no, we have to get out of here. They're aiming the canon down at us." Panicked Nami as she pointed to the roof of the building the voice was heard from.

Sure enough there was a canon aimed right at them.

"It's alright." Said Luffy calmly, while Zoro and Fitz nodded.

"If Luffy says we're safe here than we're safe." Said Fitz

"Are you guys crazy?" Nami said as the order to fire was heard.

There was a loud BANG and the canon ball was sent right at them. Luffy simply put up his hand and yelled, _AIR FREEZE_. The canon ball stopped in midflight, as the air around was frozen solid. _AIR BLAST_ shouted Luffy, sending the canon ball back where it came from and destroying the entire building.

As the smoke cleared there were only three people still conscious. One was riding a white lion; another somehow managed to stay balanced on a unicycle and was pointing a sword at them. The third and final one was assumed to be Buggy by Luffy.

Buggy had his face painted like a clown and a big, red nose. He wore an orange pirate hat and a red and white-stripped shirt along with light green pants and red shoes with yellow buckles. On his shoulders he wore a captains overcoat, the same orange color as his hat.

"You dare attack Buggy the pirate?" Buggy practically screeched at the four of them.

"You are they one that attacked us." Complained Nami

"Cabaji attack them. Make them regret ever seeing me," screeched Buggy again.

"Yes sir," Cabaji said as he made his way over to the attackers on his unicycle.

"That ones a swordsmen ill take him." Said Zoro as the other three backed out of the way to give him some space.

"I'll try to make this quick," he said.

Tying his bandana around his head he unsheathed his three swords putting Wado Ichimonji, his most precious sword, in his mouth. Keeping it parallel to the ground he then crossed the two katanas in his hands in front of Wado to form an X in front of him.

"To think you could even beat me at all was the last mistake you will make." Said Cabaji menacingly as he sped towards his target with his sword pointed at him.

Zoro didn't move until Cabaji was 3ft from him and at that point he yelled, _DEMON SLASH, _and disappeared. Having run past Cabaji, Zoro reappeared and came to a sliding stop 5ft on the other side of Cabaji. Zoro slowly stood up and it was only after he sheathed his swords that Cabaji's chest started gushing blood from the three gashes.

Zoro untied his bandana and retied it around the bicep of his left arm. Walking over to Luffy and the others, he gave Fitz a high five as if to tag him in for the next fight.

Nami, who barely saw what happened, stood gaping at Zoro.

"It's not polite to stare at people with your mouth hanging open like that," said Zoro, noticing Nami.

"S-sorry" Nami said as she turned back to see how Fitz was doing

"MOHJI!" shrieked Buggy

"KILL THEM KILL THEM KILL THEM NOOOOOW!" he screamed as the man riding the lion coaxed it out to face Fitz.

"I am called Mohji, the animal tamer. This here is Richie." He said pointing to the lion he was riding on.

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DEAtH." He said as Richie charged towards Fitz

"Whatever." Said Fitz as he dodged Richie's paw swipe using _soru_.

Because he dodged backwards Fitz was now a good distance away from Richie and Mohji. Transforming his hand into a gargoyle claw he just stood there waiting for Mohji to make his move.

"You're a quick one," said Mohji "but you can't dodge forever" he continued as Richie began charging again.

As soon as Richie moved Fitz took a step forward and swung his hand from the ground towards Richie saying _Rankyaku Tsume _(Storm Leg – Claw variation). The result was five blue crescent blades that started off small but increased in size as they flew towards Richie.

The lion didn't even know what hit him. Roaring in pain he collapse as blood streamed out of his five freshly inflicted wounds. Mohji, after gaining his balance and seeing what happened to Richie, charged at Fitz. Fitz simply punched him in the face, having transformed his hand back to normal. He didn't want to kill Mohji, just knock him out.

Fitz came back over to Luffy and the rest. As he adjusted his glasses Zoro slapped him on the back.

"You have to teach that move to me." He said with a smile.

"If we can find the time than sure." Said Fitz as he took out his book, sat down up against a nearby house and began reading.

"Looks like you're out of people red nose," yelled Luffy with a grin.

"ARGH WHO HAS A BIG RED NOSE? ILL KILL YOU," screamed Buggy as he ran towards Luffy brandishing a sword wildly.

Luffy, simply ducked under Buggy's slash and spinning on his foot with his arm extended he shouted, _SHARP AIR._

The result was Buggy being completely cleaved in half but the strange thing was that there was no blood and Buggy was laughing hysterically.

"I ate the chop chop fruit," said Buggy with a maniacal grin plastered on his face.

"I can't be cut be anything."

While he was saying this Buggy shot his hand that was holding three knives at Luffy.

"Interesting," said Luffy as Buggy's attack passed right through his face.

"Whaaaaat?" yelled Buggy in surpise.

"You aren't the only one that has the power of the devil," said Luffy as his face reformed.

"I think it's about time to end this," he said.

His hand was in a position as though he was holding something. He started running towards Buggy and yelled, _AIR HAMMER._ In his hand was now a long transparent hammer. The only reason anyone else could see it was because Luffy had strengthened it enough for the outline of the weapon to appear as a distortion in the air.

Luffy continued running at Buggy and swinging the air hammer from his side he attacked him.

Buggy who was so surprised by what had just happened was unable to react and took the attack right in the chest. The force of the blow sent him flying out of the town and he disappeared in the horizon.

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

The town's people were now treating the saviors of Orange Town to a feast. Luffy still eating long after everyone had their fill. Nami, who had gotten her hands on all of Buggy's treasure along with the map to the grand line, was in high spirits, enjoying her time with pirates for the first time in her life.

"On behalf of the town I would like to thank the four of you for saving us." Toasted the Mayor of Orange Town, after all the noise had died down.

"We don't have much of value that we can give you as a reward but please take Buggy's ship as your own. We have some shipwrights in town that can give the ship a makeover. You can choose how it will look." The Mayor finished.

"Woohoo," yelled Luffy. "We finally got a ship."

Over the next couple of weeks, the four saviors of Orange Town were treated luxuriously while they waited for the renovations to their new ship to be down.

After some time the mayor summoned them to the dock and with a smile he ordered the tarp covering the ship to be taken off.

"Wow," all four said in unison, their mouths gaping open in awe.

The ship they saw before them had no resemblance to Buggy's old ship, Big Top, whatsoever. From the keel of the ship to midway up the hull it was painted a dark blue, almost black. The rest of the hull was a light blue with white, diagonal streaks through it and the guardrail of the ship was a gold color. The three masts were left unpainted save for the spiral of gold going up each and the crow's nest atop the middle and tallest of the three main masts was painted the same light blue as the hull, with the same white diagonal streaks through it. The figurehead, as per Luffy's request, was the head of an osprey with its beak open. If the ship were coming at you head on, because of the white streaks on the hull looking almost like feathers on a bird's wings, it would look like a bird of prey was attacking.

On the side of the hull was the name of the ship. Emblazoned in large gold letters was the name, _The Osprey._

There were also pirate flags waving in the wind atop the three main masts. The image depicted on them, painted by Nami, was a standard skull with Luffy's goggles painted on. Underneath it, two white tipped, light blue bird wings were crossed taking the place of the crossbones normally associated with pirates.

After giving their thanks to the towns people and the mayor, the four saviors of Orange Town boarded their new ship.

"This ship is amazing and huge," shouted Luffy with glee, running all over the ship and checking out each and every feature.

"It's definitely more luxurious than the fishing boat we've been using," added Fitz, as he looked over _The Osprey_, which was more than 5x the size of the boat they arrived in.

"It's definitely more spacious," said Zoro with a grin as he sat down, leaning against the guardrail.

Luffy, coming out of the captain's quarters, located at the back of the ship, came down the left set of stairs to stand on the deck and said,

"Woah, there's a big kitchen next to my room that has a dining table in it"

"And there are a bunch of rooms down here." Luffy shouted after going through the door that was directly in the middle of the two staircases that were on either side of the ship and behind the back main mast.

"One thing though," Nami said after coming out of the kitchen having put the supplies, that the villagers had given them away.

"How do you plan on sailing this ship Luffy? It's almost impossible with just the four of us."

"That's easy," said Luffy, now standing in front of the captain's quarters at the wheel of the ship.

He held out his hand and shouted, _AIR CONTROL_.

Everything on the ship began to move seemingly by itself. The sails unfurled themselves and the wheel of the ship began spinning allowing the ship to sail away from Orange Town.

"Forget I asked," said Nami with awe, more to herself then anyone.

Waving and shouting their last goodbyes to the people of Orange Town. _The Osprey_ sailed out into the open seas.

**((END CHAPTER))**

**Done. I kinda slacked off on this chapter, just wanted to get it out, and for that I apologize and say that the next one will be much better, I promise.**

**Thanks for the reviews and keep em comin.**

**Until next time.**

**maximotheone asked -**

**to be fair the grand line is a staight line all luffy needs to do to cross it is fly straight** **and he should make it**

**I Answer -**

**That is very true but there will circumstances, which keep him from** **just going straight there. He is also a big fan of the adventure rather than the end goal and plus, if he went straight there I really wouldn't have much to write about :)**


	6. A Marksman And An Evil Cat

**All right here's another one. I hope you enjoy**

**I do not own One Piece**

**A Marksman and an Evil Cat**

As a new island came into view, Fitz shouted for everyone to brace themselves just as the ship took off towards the island, aided by Luffy. The ship came to a perfect stop just before the shallows.

"LUFFY, WARN US NEXT TIME YOU ARE GOING TO SPEED UP THE SHIP," yelled Zoro pissed off after almost being thrown off the ship. 

"AND THEN WARN US THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE GOING TO STOP THE SHIP," shouted Nami rubbing the bump on her head, courtesy of the middle main mast.

It took a little while before either of them realized that Luffy was no longer on board the ship.

"Damn, maybe we should tell him to warn us when he is going to disappear," said Zoro to himself as he lowered the anchor.

"You guys will just have to get used to it, he does it all the time," said Fitz as he got on one of the extra boats and lowering it once Zoro and Nami had boarded.

Once they got to land and caught up with Luffy, they checked their surroundings.

They had just walked onto a sandy beach at the base of a steep cliff. On top of the cliff, from what they could see, were a lot of trees.

As they started walking towards the cliff, a male voice shouted out.

"YOU HAVE JUST ENTERED MY TERRITORY. I AM THE PROUD CAPTAIN OF 80,000 MEN AND EACH HAS THEIR RIFLE AIMED AT YOU."

Luffy, who could tell his location by the way the air blew around him, appeared behind the source of the mystery voice.

The youth standing before him had curly, bushy black hair that he covered with a cross-stitched pattern, dark yellow bandana. He wore a one-piece brown outfit with suspenders over his shoulders to hold it all together. The pants part of the outfit was rolled midway up the shin. He was wearing big, round, green shoes and a light blue cloth around his waste. In his hand he held a green slingshot and over his shoulder he had a small brown bag. His most distinct feature was his extremely long nose.

"Who are you?" asked Luffy, tilting his head to the side.

"I'm Usopp nice to meet you," said the young man luffy had tracked the voice to.

It took a couple of moments before Usopp's brain registered that the teenager standing before him was the same teenager that had just been at the bottom of the cliff, the very same teenager that had come to the island in a pirate ship.

"WAAHHHH," the boy in front of him screamed in a high-pitched voice.

"DON'T SNEAK UP BEHIND PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE ON A CLIFF AND TALKING TO PIRATES.

"So you have 80,000 men under your command?" asked Luffy genuinely.

"Well it's too bad for you but I could beat them all without any help." He said proudly

"WAAHHHH, DON'T TALK TO ME PIRA…. Wait a second, there's no way **you** could beat 80,000 men," said Usopp.

"Of course I can," stated Luffy

"No, there is no way that you could, it's just not possible," replied Usopp.

"Bring your 80,000 men out here so that I can show you," said Luffy, ready for a fight.

"Well that would be kind of hard because I don't have anyone under my…" said Usopp before stopping himself after realizing what he was saying.

"WAAHHH DON'T TRICK PEOPLE INTO TELLING THE TRUTH," screamed Usopp in a high-pitched voice once again.

"I knew he was lying," said Nami after joining them, having found an inclined path to walk up with Zoro and Fitz.

"WAHHH. PIRATES," screamed Usopp after noticing Nami and the others.

"Don't worry, we aren't your typical pirates. We just came here for supplies," said Fitz, trying to reassure the teenager.

"You must have come from a village," said Zoro.

"Do you think you can show us where to stock up?" he asked.

"Well if you aren't here for violence then I guess it's ok to bring you into the town." Said Usopp as he walked in a direction away from cliff side.

Having made their way into town, they stopped to get a bite to eat or, in Luffy's case, much more than one.

They were sitting at a table when Usopp became talkative.

"So you guys are real pirates?" asked Usopp excitedly

"Yeah, we're heading to the grand line and stopped at this island to resupply," answered Fitz.

"Well, if you guys are pirates then how about I join you?" asked Usopp

"If I join than I will definitely be the captain, right?" he asked hopefully with a large grin on his face

"You idiot," Luffy said between mouthfuls of meat.

"That position is already filled." He continued as he hit Usopp in the head with the bone of the meat he had just devoured.

"Besides we barely know you," said Fitz.

"What can you do?"

"I'm the best marksman in East Blue." Usopp said proudly pointing to himself with his thumb.

"Really?" asked Nami, "you lied to us when we first met so I don't think I believe you."

"Well than how about I show you."

Leading his new pirate friends into the forest, they came to a clearing. On the side of the clearing they entered from there was a huge oak tree and opposite the oak tree across was another smaller tree that stood a good distance away. The tree had a lot of markings in it showing it to be a typical target used for practice.

As they walked into the clearing, Usopp climbed the big oak tree.

"What's he doing up there?" wondered Nami out loud.

"I hope he isn't running away from the challenge," she said as Usopp dropped back to the grassy ground.

He held in his hand a box about the length of a rifle. Opening the box he took out a strange looking weapon.

"What is that?" asked Fitz, now curious.

"My dad gave me this rifle and I modified it by putting two detachable crossbows on it," answered Usopp proudly. "I call it the _trifecta_."

Taking the weapon from Usopp, Fitz began examining it.

It was a regular long shot rifle but with the addition of two crossbows, one attached to the top and one to the bottom. Both crossbows were attached on opposite sides of the muzzle of the rifle and there was a small crank on the rifle and between both crossbows to adjust the angle of the crossbows. If the crank were to be turned all the way, the crossbows would be at right angles to the rifle muzzle allowing the shooter to hit targets on either side of him.

"I see," said Fitz still holding the _trifecta_.

While Fitz had been examining the _trifecta, _Usopp had strapped a box containing crossbow bolts to the outside of both legs.

"You've made it so that when they are attached they can all be fired by pulling the trigger of the rifle." He said after finally looking up from the weapon.

"Not only that but I put a setting on it so that you can either fire all three at the same time, both crossbows alone or the rifle by itself," said Usopp, proud of his creation.

"I understand the concept but theoretically it would almost be impossible to aim," Fitz replied.

"That's why I'm going to show you," said Usopp with a mischievous smile.

"Nami, could you push that button for me?" he asked, after he had loaded the rifle along with both crossbows and pointed to a button attached to a wire by her foot.

When she pressed the button targets began to pop up around the edge of the clearing. As soon as the first target become visible, Usopp put the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and turned the crank. Just as the target became fully visible Usopp pulled the trigger to fire all three weapons at once. The first target that became visible was hit dead center with a bullet while two other targets on either side of Usopp where hit directly in the middle by crossbow bolts.

"Sugei," said Luffy with stars in his eyes, his mouth gaping open.

"That is quite amazing," said Fitz, admiring the sharpshooter's handiwork.

"It's not over yet," Usopp said.

Another target popped up at their right. Usopp fired the rifle hit the target dead center with the bullet. As two more targets popped up on the left Usopp, turning the crank back so that the crossbows were at their default setting, spun and fired the crossbows, hitting both targets in the middle.

Just then six targets came up in front of Usopp and started moving towards him. Loading the two crossbows by using the boxes on the outside of his legs, Usopp was able to take out both targets in the blink of an eye. He repeated the same method of fast reloading to dispatch the next four, turning to the four pirates with a smug look on his face.

"That was pretty impressive," said Zoro.

"Yeah, you should definitely join our crew," added Luffy, the stars in his eyes having faded.

"Your lies will definitely be something entertaining," joked Nami.

"And I would love to hear how you made that weapon," said Fitz still admiring the _trifecta_.

"Woohoo, I'm gonna be a pirate and become a brave warrior of the sea," yelled Usopp jumping into the air.

"But I have to go say goodbye to Kaya, I'll meet you guys by the ship later," said Usopp as he ran off.

"Who's Kaya," everyone asked themselves.

While Usopp was saying his goodbyes to Kaya, Luffy and company walked back to _the osprey_. When they reached the cliff, they saw a ship pulling up to shore.

"I know that ship," said Fitz

"That's the ship that used to be captained by the thousand plans Kuro. But I thought he was captured and executed a while ago." He continued.

The ship had a light green keel and a red hull, with black lines about 8ft apart going from guard rail to guard rail. The figurehead was that of a black cat with an open mouth. There was a cat paw on each side of the ship, on the guardrails, giving it the appearance of a cat trying to escape from the ship. It had two main masts with the sails being the generic white color.

As they watched the ship, pirates began jumping out and wading through the shallows to get to shore. Once they were all on shore a man dressed in a strange outfit came into view.

He was wearing a white shirt and light brown pants under a blue captains coat. The coat had a tan outline around it and tan colored rings up and down the right side, where buttons should be. He wore a cowboy hat, brown gloves and heart shaped sunglasses with red lenses. His white socks went up to the middle of his shins and his shoes were a light shade of black. The goatee on his chin jutted 3inches outward and was red with a black spiral through it.

After giving orders to the pirates, they all stormed up the incline that would lead to the village.

"It seems like they are planning on attacking the village," said Fitz casually.

"Should we allow them to pass captain?" Zoro asked, his left hand on his katanas.

"Of course not, we can't let them do anything to my sharpshooter's village," said Luffy, punching his right fist into the palm of his left hand.

As the attacking pirates made their way up the slope, Luffy stood facing them with his hand out in front of him while Fitz transformed both his hands into claws.

"We'll take out these guys," said Luffy.

"Zoro run through after we attack and take out any that we miss," he continued.

"Sure thing captain," said Zoro as he tied his bandana to his head and took out his katanas.

_AIR BLAST_ yelled Luffy and at the same time Fitz yelled _RANKYAKU TSUME. _An extremely powerful blast of wind came rushing down the slope. Fitz's attack got sucked into the blast of air but still kept its shape. The blue blades that came from his claws started swirling with the wind.

_STORM _they shouted as their combined attack was released.

The first of the attacking pirates to get hit by Luffy and Fitz's combined attack were launched into the sea by the force of the wind; the rest of them weren't so lucky. Fifty men were sent flying by Luffy's Air Blast and having been cut by Fitz's attack, they were gushing blood as they soared into the ocean.

Zoro, who had taken off running down the slope just after the combined attack was released, knocked out all the pirates that the Storm attack somehow missed, hitting each in the back of the head with the sides of his swords. As Zoro reached the attackers ship he saw the strange man that had given the order to attack.

"Are you prepared to die?" Zoro asked "Or will you surrender?"

Usopp had returned with a giant backpack full of his supplies just before Luffy and Fitz's attack. He stood with his mouth gaping open. He had just seen about fifty men completely obliterated by the attack, neither Luffy nor Fitz, barely needing to lift a finger.

Usopp had continued to watch as, what could only be described as a green demon, raced down the slope and dispatched anyone lucky enough to avoid the monstrous attack. As Usopp continued to watch, Zoro was talking with a strange looking man.

"We're not done yet," said the strange man shaking from fear.

Just as he said it two more pirates jumped down from the ship.

"Come here Shamand Buchi**,**" the strange man said

"Yes Jango," the two pirates answered as they walked up to Jango.

Sham had a large amount of green hair that he had parted to the left side of his cat-like face. His sharp claws and playful grin were a strange combination. His partner, Buchi, was more of a heavy-set man. The black spot over his left eye looked almost like it was part of the short black hair on his head, giving him the appearance of a cow. He had the same deadly looking claws as Sham and also sported a cowbell around his neck.

Jango had taken out a circular blade and was swing it back and forth in front of the two pirates faces.

"When I count to three you will be much stronger," said Jango still swinging his oversized necklace.

"1,2,3" he finished covering his eyes with the brim of his hat.

"Oi, what's the hold up here?" shouted Zoro.

The two pirates turned to face him. Both of them seemed to have changed. Their muscles bulged and their eyes turned completely white as though they were possessed. To test their newfound strength, Sham punched the cliff side, making rocks fly in every direction. When the dust cleared a quarter of the cliff was missing.

"Damn, I'd better not let them get too close to me," Zoro thought to himself as he got into his _demon slash _stance.

"I think I'll try to copy Fitz's attack," said Zoro as the two pirates started charging at him.

_RANKYAKU DEMON SLASH_, yelled Zoro. Three small blue blades started flying towards the assailants. Sham was hit by two of the blue blades and spurts of blood started coming from the wounds on his chest, one going from his right shoulder blade to his left pectoral and the other gash went across his chest effectively incapacitating him. The third blue blade that Zoro released slashed Buchi diagonally across his chest. The force of the attack pushed him back but he recovered quickly, due to the large amount of fat on his body and continued charging Zoro.

"Damn, I need to work on that attack," thought Zoro as he parried Buchi's claw attacks furiously.

It seemed like it was all over for Zoro as he was pushed into the cliff side and Buchi was about to land a devastating blow with his claws. Just before the attack hit him, Zoro bent low and pushed off of the cliff side. Spinning so that his back was only inches from the ground, Zoro parried a claw attack with his left katana and slashed Buchi's legs with his right katana and the one in his mouth.

As Zoro hit the ground and continued sliding, Buchi did as well, unable to stand due to the wounds inflicted by Zoro. Once Zoro was up he went over to check on his opponent and found that he had passed out from blood loss.

"JANGOOOO!" yelled a voice from the top of the slope.

"Why is there a delay?" the voice asked

"I'm sorry captain Kuro but these pirates are far too strong for us." Said Jango.

"You're captain Kuro?" asked Usopp furiously having recognized him as Kaya's butler Kurahadol.

Kuro was wearing a black suit with a black tie and white dress shirt. The shoes he was wearing were gray with black strips. On his hands he had black gloves but instead of fingers he had attached ten short swords. To avoid cutting himself with the blades on his fingers, he adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand and gave Usopp a menacing look.

"Usopp stay where you are. Don't attack him. He's dangerous." Yelled Fitz worried about their new recruit.

As all this was going on Nami had snuck onto the invading pirate's ship and stolen their treasure. She was taking the bags of loot back to _the osprey _when Jango noticed her.

Taking out the circular metal necklace he had used to hypnotize Sham and Buchi, he spun it on his finger and launched it at the thief.

Noticing Jango's attack Usopp aimed the _trifecta_ and fired the rifle. Hearing the gunshot everyone looked up seeing Nami about to be cut by the speeding ring launched by Jango. Just before the blade hit her neck, Usopp shot it out of the air. He then aimed for Jango and pulled the trigger, hitting him in the shoulder.

Surprised that he made the shot, Usopp looked around to see if anyone saw it.

"He'll make a great addition to the crew," said Luffy happily

Everyone in the crew smiled and nodded, agreeing with their captain's statement.

"That is enough," yelled Kuro.

_Stealth Foot, _he said as he disappeared.

To Luffy, Zoro and Fitz it was plan as day where the pirate captain went but Usopp, Jango and Nami were unable to follow him with their eyes.

Kuro was moving at high speed towards Usopp.

"You'll be the first to taste the blade of my cat claw," he said as he raised his right hand preparing to strike.

Just before Kuro's blades cut Usopp, Luffy appeared on Kuro's left with an intimidating look in his eye. Pointing his silver revolver at Kuro's chest, Luffy pulled the trigger twice.

Kuro was sent twisting and somersaulting through the air only to impact with the side of the cliff causing a large amount of dust to come up as the rubble hit the ground.

"You think I would just let you hurt one of my nakama?" asked Luffy with a dark look in his eyes.

"That was quite an attack," said Kuro "What did you do?" he asked picking himself up out of the rubble.

"I just compressed the air in the revolver's chambers. The compressed air expands rapidly at impact. It's like being hit with gale force winds." Answered Luffy, sounding uncharacteristically smart.

"It seems you are quite strong," Kuro said as he wiped the stream of blood that had begun to flow down his forehead before it got in his eye.

"You could say that," said Luffy, appearing in front of Kuro.

"I guess I will have to go all out," said Kuro as he leaned forward with his head down.

Letting his arms hang, he started moving back and forth. Shouting Shakushi, he disappeared.

A few seconds later, five gashes appeared in the cliff side further down the slope.

"Everyone you should probably get back," said Luffy, as another five gashes appeared further up the cliff side.

"It seems that Kuro doesn't even know where that attack is going, it's completely random," said Fitz after he joined everyone a safe distance away, Nami retreating back to _the osprey_ with the invading pirate's loot. Zoro had climbed onto the enemies ship to get a good view of the fight.

"I'm tired of this," said Luffy.

Spinning on one foot with his right arm stretched out, his fingers held tightly together, he yelled _AIR BLADE_.

Just as five more gashes were appearing on another point of the cliff side, Luffy's _air blade_ collided with the cat claws on Kuro's right hand and cut right through them.

Kuro, surprised by the result of Luffy's attack, got back into position intending to perform a one handed Shakushi.

"I told you I am tired of your useless attacks," Luffy said.

Putting his hand out in front of him he shouted _AIR LOCK_.

Kuro had just disappeared when Luffy's attack hit.

"What have you done to me?" asked Kuro in fear because he wasn't able to move any part of his body.

"I'm increasing the density of the air around you slowly to keep you in place. If I keep this attack going the air around you will freeze but I don't think I want to wait for that." Luffy answered

Luffy clenched his right hand into a fist and started running at Kuro, yelling CONCENTRATED AIR BLAST. Swinging his arm in an uppercut motion, Luffy's fist connected with Kuro's stomach. Leaning over Luffy's fist, the wind around Kuro began to pick up when all of a sudden, Kuro was sent flying through the sky by a wind attack that was twice as powerful as the one that took out fifty men. Kuro's screams disappeared, as he became a speck on the horizon.

Looking around Luffy noticed Jango.

"Fitz can you grab Jango over there so that we can ask him why they were attacking this nice village," Luffy said.

Fitz said _Soru_ and appeared right in front of Jango. Putting him in a headlock he dragged him up the slope and threw him in front of Luffy.

'Would you mind telling me why you were attacking my sharpshooters village?" asked Luffy angrily.

"We were ordered to by captain Kuro," answered Jango, fearful of what might happen next.

"He was going to have me hypnotize Kaya, the girl he is working for, to make her write a will where she leaves everything to Kurahadol," continued Jango.

"He was going to kill her and take everything she owns," he finished.

Just as Jango finished his sentence, Usopp noticed Kaya standing at the top of the slope. Hearing what Jango said she fell to her knees.

"I would have never believed that Kurahadol could do something like that," she said with her face in her hands.

"He was the famous pirate of East Blue, Captain Kuro of the Thousand Plans," said Fitz as he walked up to Kaya.

"Kaya, these are the pirates I will be joining. If it weren't for them we would all be dead," said Usopp

"How can I ever repay all of you?" she asked

"Do you need a ship? I happen to have one that I can give to you as a gift for saving me and this village." She added.

"Thank you, that would be great but do you think that I can get some modifications done to it as well as Kuro's ship?" asked Luffy pointing to the ship with the cat for a figure head.

"I would be delighted to pay for the modifications to both ships," answered Kaya happily.

**((FLASH FORWARD))**

So the crew spent their time in the village, listening to Usopp's stories and telling their own. A marine ship came by the island to pick up any of the remaining pirates who had served under captain Kuro, Luffy and everyone keeping out of sight so as not to attract any attention to them.

"I've been thinking about this for a while and I really think we should find a name for ourselves as a crew," said Fitz as they all sat down in a restaurant, the marines having left.

"That seems like a good idea, they'll need to call us something once we all get bounties on our heads," said Luffy grinning happily.

"Well then how about the _Sky Pirates?_" suggested Nami.

"That sounds great," answered Luffy jumping up and down, secretly hoping to himself that the marines give him a cool personal nickname.

"Definitely sounds cool," said Usopp.

"Has a nice ring to it," added Zoro with a smile on his face as he finished another bottle of sake.

"Sky Pirates it is then," said Fitz with a broad grin.

"I'll ask Kaya if she can get all of the ships, including the_ Osprey_, painted with the name we will be remembered as," said Usopp as he ran off looking for Kaya.

So over the next couple weeks _The Sky Pirates _stayed in Usopp's town waiting for their two new ships to be ready.

"Usopp where are you?" said Kaya as she came through the restaurant door.

"Both ships are ready."

Walking down the slope where the battle occurred, Usopp could see two brand new looking ships anchored in the shallows.

The ship anchored on the left was called the _Gyrfalcon_. The keel, hull, and guardrail were all painted a light, cream color. The deck and the two main masts were left unpainted. The figurehead was that of a gyrfalcon, with a hooked, light brown beak and keen black eyes. In keeping with the gyrfalcon theme of the ship, there were light brown streak like spots on the hull, giving the appearance of folded wings.

The other ship anchored in the shallows was called the _Albatross_. The keel was painted a white color, along with some of the hull. The figurehead was that of an albatross, with a long, cream-colored beak with a yellow tip and sharp black eyes. The guardrails were painted black, as was most of the hull, giving the appearance of black wings folded over a white body. The deck and the two main masts were left unpainted.

Kaya told them that the _Gyrfalcon _would be extremely fast and the _Albatross_ would be able to sail long distances only needing small gusts of wind.

Luffy and the Sky Pirates all said their goodbyes and thanks to Kaya. Luffy had taken a liking to the _Gyrfalcon_ and decided they would be using it to sail until Luffy decided otherwise. After moving all the supply's from the _Osprey _to the _Gyrfalcon_, they boarded the _Gyrfalcon_, and prepared to set sail.

The three birds of prey had all been painted with, _The Sky Pirate's, _above each name and looked like this:

_The Sky Pirate's_

_Gyrfalcon_

_The Sky Pirate's_

_Osprey_

_The Sky Pirate's_

_Albatross_

"Luffy, how are we supposed to sail three different ships with just five people?" asked Usopp.

"Just watch," answered Luffy with a confident grin on his face.

Holding out his right hand, he yelled _AIR CONTROL._ Just as before everything started moving on it's own.

Usopp looked over at their newly acquired ships and saw that they were both being operated by some invisible force.

"That's really cool," said Usopp with awe on his face.

As all three ship's sails unfurled and the anchors on all ships had been raised, Luffy, using his power to control the air, sent all three ships in motion towards the open sea.

"I'm finally going off into the world to become a brave warrior of the sea," said Usopp, leaning on his elbows against the guardrail of the _Gyrfalcon,_ watching as his village faded away and thinking of the adventures to come.

**((END CHAPTER))**

**Okay, to make up for my lackluster last chapter I figured I would really put a lot into this one. Hope you all enjoyed it and please review.**

**Until next time**

**VLS –**

**I have just two questions: Does luffy have haki? Will there be more new crewmates?**

**To that I answer – **

**Yes Luffy does have haki but he probably won't be using it for a while. It depends on the strength of the opponent he is facing.**

**Yes there will be more new crewmates. The next chapter I release will shed some light on that.**


	7. The Sky Pirates Stop For Lunch

**Hey everybody. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy. I would also like to say thank you for the reviews so far I do appreciate it.**

**I do not own One Piece.**

**The Sky Pirates Stop for Lunch**

After being at sea for some time Luffy and Usopp were getting bored and decided to try out. Seeing a rock jutting out of the ocean Luffy challenged Usopp to hit it. Usopp lined the canon up by eye and fired. Both of them watched as the canon ball made contact with the rock, sending dust and rubble everywhere.

A little while later a man, who had somehow gotten onto the _Gyrfaclon,_ was holding his sword ready to attack _The Sky Pirates_.

"Who was it that fired that canon?" the man asked angrily looking around.

"I did," said Usopp proudly.

"Then you are the one that I have to kill," the man said charging towards Usopp.

_AIR LOCK_, shouted Luffy and the man came to a standstill with his sword raised above his head.

Zoro, who had been in the kitchen, came out to see what the commotion was about.

"Johnny?" asked Zoro surprised.

"You know this guy Zoro?" asked Luffy.

"Yea he was one of my partners from my bounty hunting days. You can let him go, he won't hurt any of us." Zoro answered.

Luffy released his hold on Johnny as Zoro came down the stairs to talk to him.

"What are you doing here Johnny and where is Yosaku?" asked Zoro

"Brother Zoro, it's terrible. We were sailing through the ocean her when Yosaku got sick. We stopped at a rock that was jutting out of the sea and then we were shot at by that guy." Johnny said pointing to Usopp

"Sorry, we were just doing some target practice with the canons." Answered Usopp guiltily.

"Lets bring Yosaku onto our ship and see if we can help him," said Luffy.

A little while later Yosaku was lying down on the deck, his skin a sickly grey color.

"I know what this is," said Nami.

"He's got scurvy, bring me some lemons and water," she said

After Nami's treatment, Yosaku's skin began to turn back to normal.

After sailing for a little while longer _The Sky Pirates,_ and their new friends, came across the floating restaurant Baratie. As they came closer to it a marine vessel pulled up alongside them. Standing on the deck of the vessel a marine started talking to them.

"So you lot are pirates hmmm?" the marine asked with an air of arrogance about him.

He was a regular sized marine wearing a white, pinstriped suit and his faded pink hair was well combed. He had a scar under his right eye and bolts attached to his knuckles.

Seeing the marine vessel Johnny and Yosaku hid, in their rush they dropped all of their wanted posters on the deck of they _Gyrfalcon. _Nami bent down to pick them up as the marine continued talking.

"Seeing as it's my day off I could just let you go," he said as the vessel began sailing away.

"But I'm not that nice, FIRE," he yelled.

A canon ball came hurtling toward the _Gyrfalcon_. Luffy moved his hand, as if to slap something out of the air, and said _AIR REROUTE_. The canon ball changed course in mid-air and went flying straight for the Baratie, putting a hole in its roof.

"Oops," said Luffy guiltily.

"I should go over there and see if anyone is hurt," he said as his feet disappeared and he flew to hole he had caused.

After Luffy went through the hole in the roof he allowed his feet to reappear and touched down lightly on the wood floor of a room.

Looking around he saw a man leaning against a wall next to a bed. He wore a white cooking apron and a blue shirt underneath. He had a blonde, bushy moustache and blonde hair covered by a toweringly tall chef's hat. Where his left leg should be was a peg leg.

Seeing the man's peg leg, Luffy went over and shook the man by his shoulder.

"Did I just do that to you?" asked Luffy fearfully, pointing to the man's peg leg.

"You idiot, this happened a long time ago," the man shouted as he spun on his hand, intending to kick Luffy in the head with his peg leg.

The chef's kick just passed right through Luffy's head. Standing up at his full height, the chef looked Luffy up and down.

"So you ate a Logia devil fruit?" the man asked.

"Yeah, the air air fruit but how did you know that?" asked Luffy curiously.

"My name is chef Zeff and I've been to the grand line before," the man said.

"But I can tell you all about that after we decide on payment for the hole you put in my roof," Zeff said with a hint of anger behind his voice.

"Sorry I don't have any money," said Luffy innocently.

"Well then you will have to work for me for a year," said Zeff.

"Impossible, how about two weeks?" asked Luffy holding up two fingers

"That would never make up for the damage," said Zeff

"Three weeks?" asked Luffy holding up three fingers this time.

"Ah there is no reasoning with you. Go down to the kitchen, you will be our new bus boy." Answered Zeff rubbing his face with his hand.

As Luffy came down the spiral staircase in the center of the restaurant, his crew walked through the front door.

"Luffy you forgot to deal with our other two ships," yelled Nami at her captain while Fitz and Zoro were laughing at something Usopp said.

"Whoops," he said as he walked outside.

Spotting his two ships he held up his hand and said _Air Control_. The two ships moved of their own accord and came towards the restaurant. Luffy moved the ships to the back of the Baratie and dropped both anchors so he wouldn't have to worry about them.

Coming back into the Baratie he went into the kitchen as his crew sat down at a table. A couple of minutes later, Luffy came out of the kitchen sporting a white cooking apron and holding a piece of cooked meat in his hand. He had twelve plates hovering around him. As he walked to each table, he set each plate down without even touching them as he continued to eat his piece of meat. Once he was done he sat down at his crew's table.

"That was pretty cool Luffy, maybe you should be a waiter," said Usopp with a grin.

"Everyone else seems to think it was pretty cool as well," said Fitz, hearing the whispers from table to table.

"No way, I'm going to be the Pirate King," said Luffy leaning back in his chair.

"Well Mr. pirate king you know you aren't supposed to sitting at the tables," said a man that had just come out of the kitchen.

The man was wearing a black suit with a black tie and a blue dress shirt underneath his suit jacket. He had on black shoes and his blonde hair covered his left eye. Taking a puff from his cigarette he noticed Nami.

"My what a beautiful lady you are. May I ask your name?" the man asked with hearts in his eyes as he produced a rose from nowhere and went down on one knee to give it to her.

"I'm Nami and who are you?" asked Nami taking the rose.

"My name is Sanji, a cook at this restaurant and your humble servant," Sanji said as he poured Nami some wine.

"Excuse me waiter, Waiter, WAITER," yelled a man from across the restaurant.

"I think he is yelling at you" Sanji said to Luffy as he continued to dote on Nami

"Nope, he's pointing at you," answered Luffy

Sanji turned to see who was yelling and sure enough the man was pointing at him.

"That's the marine that fired on us," said Usopp in a hushed voice as Sanji walked over.

"I would like to point out that I am not a waiter, I am a chef at this establishment," said Sanji angrily.

"Where is my wine waiter?" asked the marine arrogantly.

"As I told you before I am chef. You will have to find a waiter to fulfill your request," said Sanji as he turned his heel and started to walk, causing the woman the marine was dining with to giggle.

Hearing the sound of a woman laughing, Sanji immediately returned to the table, produced a bottle of wine seemingly from nowhere and poured her a glass.

"I am terribly sorry mademoiselle, I should have noticed your beauty earlier," Sanji said with hearts in his eyes.

"WHERE THE HELL IS MY WINE?" yelled the marine as Sanji was leaving.

"I told you already I am not a waiter," answered Sanji casually as he returned to _The Sky Pirates_ table, making the woman laugh again.

The marine, angry after being humiliated, found a dead fly on the ground and put it in his soup.

"WAITER, WAITER," called the marine angrily.

"How many times must I tell you that I am not a waiter," answered Sanji as he made his way to the marine's table.

"How did a fly get in my soup," said the marine pointing to the fly in his soup and smiling smugly, thinking he had won.

"I'm not sure. I think you would have to ask the fly but it looks like it is already dead." Answered Sanji casually, earning him more laughter from the woman opposite the marine.

"I refuse to eat this soup. Call your boss down here I would like to-" the marine was saying before he was kicked in the back of his head, sending his face into the soup and effectively cutting off his sentence.

"How dare you come into this restaurant and try to waste food," said Sanji before kicking the marine in the head again, sending him sprawling into another table by the front door.

"Do you know who I am?" Asked the marine, barely able to stand.

"I am Lieutenant Fullbody, I can have a fleet of marine ships down here," he said fearfully as Sanji came towards him.

Chef Zeff, who had made his way down the spiral staircase, stopped as he reached the ground level, taking in the scene before him.

Sanji was holding a beaten and bloody marine off the ground by his neck while four or five other chefs were trying to get him to let go of the man.

"SANJI, what is the meaning of this?" asked Zeff as he delivered a kick to Sanji's chin, sending him across the restaurant.

"He was trying to waste food you old fart," said Sanji as he stood up, stepping out of the wreckage of one of their tables.

"Finally someone sane," said Fullbody his eyes pleading with Zeff only to receive a kick from Zeff's peg leg sending him sliding into the front door.

"Don't ever come back here," Zeff said with a menacing look.

"And you," he said pointing to Sanji as the marine disappeared out the front door.

"If you're going to fight do it in the kitchen. We don't want to scare the customers," Zeff said as Sanji lit a cigarette.

"He was pretty impressive back there, I think I might get him to join my crew," said Luffy now standing next to Zeff.

"If you can get him to leave this restaurant then you can go ahead and take him," answered Zeff, as the front door opened.

Zeff and Luffy turned around to greet whoever had entered but were surprised to find a man in gold armor, lying face down on the floor. There was another man who had carried him and was now on his knees.

"Please would you give some food to us and our crew, we haven't eaten in weeks." Said the man

"That's Don Krieg, the most feared pirate in East Blue," whispered one of the customers.

The news spread like a virus through the restaurant. Soon everyone was whispering fearfully of the man lying face down on the floor.

Don Krieg was a tall, muscular man, with short cut gray hair and long sideburns. He wore light purple pants and gold, fur-lined armor on his torso consisting of a chest plate, shoulder guards, and elbow guards. His jolly roger was painted on both his shoulder guards. Under the armor a brown shirt could be seen along with brown fur-lined gloves. He wore a long fur-lined coat that came down to his ankles.

"Here. This is food for two hundred men. Take it and leave," said Zeff as he set down a gigantic bag of food, while Sanji put a plate of food in front of each man, despite the yells of protest from the other chefs.

Licking their plates clean the two men stood up.

"Thanks for the food, we'll be back later to take this boat as well. I think it would be the perfect cover to make it through the grand line." Don Krieg said, laughing manically as he left the Baratie.

After Don Krieg had left, everyone who had been dining at the restaurant fled to their boats to avoid an untimely death.

"You aren't going to run?" Zeff asked Luffy who hadn't moved an inch as everyone rushed out of the Baratie.

"I'll never run from a fight and besides I still haven't paid off my debt to you," answered Luffy with a grin.

"You're pretty confident," said Sanji, coming to stand next to Zeff and Luffy.

"But you said you wanted to be the Pirate King, it would be a shame if you died in a place like this," he continued.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King and that is why I can't run away from this fight," answered Luffy still grinning.

"This kid has some amazing ambition, I wonder if he has it," thought Zeff.

While they were waiting for Don Krieg to return, _The Sky Pirates_ eating and partying as though nothing had changed, Johnny came running through the front door.

"Luffy, Nami has taken the _Albatross_ and sailed away," he yelled after he had caught his breath.

This caused _The Sky Pirates_ to stop what they were doing and listen intently.

"We were guarding the ships just like you asked but while we were on the _Osprey_, she slipped onto the _Albatross _and sailed away," said Yosaku as he came through the front door.

As Yosaku came through the door there was the sound of canon fire outside. When they went outside to see what the commotion was, Don Krieg was there in his massive flagship with two other smaller ships on it's right.

"Bring up the fin we don't want to destroy the restaurant while we are fighting them," shouted Zeff to one of the cooks who ran off to do his bidding.

"Alright Fitz, Zoro. You guys take everyone on the _Osprey_ and follow Nami. I'll follow after," said Luffy

"Alright captain," said Fitz

"Sure thing," said Zoro.

As the rest of _The Sky Pirates _boarded the _Osprey_, two of Don Krieg's ships went up in smoke, having been split in half by a large green light.

The smoke cleared to show a small one-man boat. The boat was black with a candle on either side. The mast was in the shape of a sword and supported a black sail. Sitting on the boat was a man wearing a black wide brimmed hat and a black vest with a dark pink shirt underneath. He had a long black cape that was the same dark pink color as his shirt on the inside. On his back was a large sword.

"That's the guy," yelled one of Don Krieg's pirates who was now in the water along with half the crew.

"He's the one that took out our whole fleet," yelled another in fear.

"That's the man I've been searching for, that's Dracule Mihawk." Said Zoro as he got off the _Osprey_.

"Sorry Luffy but I have to fight this man," said Zoro as he made his way onto the wreckage of Don Krieg's to wait for Mihawk.

"I understand," said Luffy.

Dracule Mihawk's coffin boat came to a stop by the wreckage where Zoro was waiting. Mihawk stepped onto the wreckage and looked Zoro up and down.

Zoro already had his bandana tied on his head and had his right hand on his katanas.

"I never thought I'd be able to meet you so early in my journey," said Zoro as he took out his katanas

"A waste if you ask me but it seems you are ready to fight," said Mihawk as he took the cross that was on a chain around his neck and pulled out a small blade.

"What is that?" asked Zoro

"I am not such a fool to hunt a rabbit with a canon," answered Mihawk

"You are going to regret it," said Zoro as he got into his stance.

_DEMON SLASH_, he yelled as he attacked Mihawk.

There was a sound of swords clashing and when Zoro looked up he saw that all three of his swords and been blocked by the tiny blade in Mihawks hand.

"It's futile," said Mihawk.

"That doesn't mean I can't try," answered Zoro as he began slashing furiously at Mihawk.

Mihawk parried every slash with ease and knocked Zoro back, making him fall over.

"Why do you fight me when it can be easily seen that you are no match for me?" asked Mihawk.

"I made a promise to someone who died, that I would be the best," said Zoro as he got back into his stance.

"There is no way I can lose," thought Zoro.

_RANKYAKU DEMON SLASH_, shouted Zoro as the three blue blades were sent flying towards Mihawk.

Mihawk parried to of the blades but the force of the two shattered the small knife he was using. He was just barely able to dodge the third and was left with a small gash on his cheek.

"It seems I will have to honor this fight be using this blade," said Mihawk as he drew the sword on his back.

Zoro got into a different stance. Holding both the katanas in his hands above his head perpendicular to the katana in his mouth, he yelled _TIGER HUNT_.

Zoro and Mihawk disappeared. When they reappeared, having traded positions, Zoro fell to one knee as the two katanas in his hands shattered. Standing back up, he took the katana out of his mouth and held it in his right hand.

"Why do you not retreat?" asked Mihawk

"I don't really know. It's as if step back from any fight, everything I've worked for would be for nothing," said Zoro

"Yes and that is called defeat," answered Mihawk.

"I would rather die then be defeated," yelled Zoro

"Such conviction," thought Mihawk as Zoro charged once again.

Mihawk dodged to the side of the downward slash and hit Zoro in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword.

Zoro fell to the ground still clutching his katana. Standing back up and facing Mihawk, barely conscious, he spread his arms, exposing his chest to the enemy.

"What?" thought Mihawk, seeing Zoro standing as he was.

"A wound on one's back is the shame of a swordsman," said Zoro with a grin, blood dripping down his neck.

"Tell me your name kid," said Mihawk.

"My name is Roronoa Zoro." Answered Zoro.

"I will remember it," said Mihawk as he slashed Zoro with the blade that destroyed two ships.

It was a couple of seconds before blood started gushing from the slash that went from Zoro's left shoulder to his right hip. Somehow still clutching his now sheathed katana he fell into the sea.

Johnny and Yosaku dove in to save him.

"ZOROOOOO!" yelled Luffy from the Baratie.

The winds began to pick up around them as the sky darkened. Luffy appeared in front of Mihawk pointing the saber he held in his right hand at him. A dark aura emanated from Luffy.

"You are a comrade of the young swordsman? Fear not he will not die," said Mihawk still holding his blade in his right hand as Johnny and Yosaku pulled Zoro onto the _Osprey_.

"Beating you is Zoro's ambition that is the only reason why I will not try to kill you," said Luffy angrily as he sheathed his saber.

"Roronoa Zoro, no matter how many years or months pass by, I shall stand here at the top of the world and wait for you," Mihawk yelled.

"SURPASS ME," he shouted.

"It seems you have a strong ambition, would you mind telling me what it is?" asked Mihawk, now turning to Luffy.

"I will become the Pirate King," stated Luffy

"A tough path indeed, even harder than surpassing myself," said Mihawk.

"I will do it," said Luffy staring straight into Mihawk's eyes.

"Usopp is Zoro alright?" yelled Luffy

"It looks like he'll live," yelled Usopp tears streaming down his fear-ridden face.

Zoro, lying on his back on the _Osprey_, pointed his katana to the sky.

"I'm sorry Luffy, I swear from now on I will never be defeated until I can beat that guy. Any problems, Pirate King" yelled Zoro with tears in his eyes.

"Nope," said Luffy with a grin.

"You two make a good team," said Mihawk as he turned towards his boat.

"I would like to meet you again and see if your conviction still holds true. It seems that you just might have the power to achieve your goals." He said as he walked away.

"You're leaving already," shouted Don Krieg as he made his way to the wreckage Luffy and Mihawk were on.

"Didn't you come here for my head," he continued to shout.

"That was my initial plan but I have had enough fun for one day. I think I will go back to my nap." Answered Mihawk casually

"Then why don't you die before leaving," yelled Don Krieg as he fired the two pistols in his hand.

Mihawk turned around and was about to draw his deadly sword when Luffy yelled, _AIR FREEZE, _turning the bullets fired by Don Krieg to ice and keeping them suspended in midair.

"Dracule he is my prey. Go ahead and return to your nap in peace," said Luffy, his white scarf billowing in the wind.

"Kukukuku," laughed Mihawk

"It seems that he is. I will also allow you to use my first name. Normally I would kill anyone that utters it but to try and kill you would be a long drawn out battle and I have taken a liking to you, boy" continued Mihawk as he boarded his coffin boat and sailed away.

"Fitz, patch Zoro up and follow Nami. I'll meet up with you guys later," yelled Luffy

"Sure thing captain," said Fitz as the _Osprey _sailed away after Nami.

Luffy disappeared and reappeared next to Zeff, making everyone flinch except for Zeff.

"Old man, if I take care of these pests can I count my debt paid?" asked Luffy putting on his goggles.

"Sure, do whatever you like with them," answered Zeff

As the attacking pirates charged towards the Baratie, jumping from wreckage to wreckage, Luffy walked to the edge of the fin. Holding out his hand he yelled, _AIR BLAST._ All of the attacking pirates were sent flying into the sea, leaving only Don Krieg and two other pirates who had stayed back.

Luffy, appearing on the same wreckage as Don Krieg, was caught by surprise due to the strange outfit the pirate next to him wore.

The pirate before him was a towering man wearing two large iron plates to protect his front and backside. On his hands, elbows and knees were smaller iron plates to protect his joints as well as give his punches a power upgrade. In the middle of each iron plate he had on his body were giant pearls. On his head he had fashioned a pearl into a hat.

"Pearl, don't just stand there attack the boy," yelled Don Krieg

Hearing his captain's orders, Pearl charged at Luffy swinging his right hand intending to punch the teenager. Luffy didn't move at all as the punch passed through him. Everyone watched dumbfounded as Luffy reappeared behind Pearl, pointed his silver revolver at him and pulled the trigger twice.

Pearl was sent flying through the air, the two large iron plates shattering in mid-flight, and landed in the sea on the right side of the Baratie.

"You must be a devil fruit user. I've only heard of them in the legends that tell of everyone on the Grand Line possessing their power," said Krieg

"That's right, I ate the air air fruit," said Luffy as his scarf billowed in the wind and the sun, which had come out from behind the dark clouds from before, glinted off of the gold shaded goggles Luffy had put on.

The pirate, who had come with Don Krieg to the Baratie begging for food, had made his way onto the fin. He was an average height and moderately skinny man with short black messy hair, a messy black beard and the beginnings of a moustache. He was wearing an open gray jacket with a green shirt underneath. The jacket had a red sea serpent design on either side. His gray pants matched his jacket as well as the gray headband with blue stripes he wore on his head. In both hands he held a pair of iron tonfa tipped with iron canon balls.

"Gin, kill them all. Show them why you are called the demon man," yelled Krieg as Gin stood up on the platform.

Gin looked from the Baratie chefs to his captain, wrestling with his conscious. Finally deciding on his course of action he turned to Sanji, who was now standing in front of him, intent on protecting the restaurant, and dropped his tonfa.

"Captain. I-I can't do it. I can't kill the first people who have shown me kindness," yelled Gin with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"YOU MY MOST TRUSTED SUBORDINANT, THE BATTLE COMMANDER OF MY 50 SHIP ARMADA. YOU DARE DEFY MY ORDERS GIN?" screamed Don Krieg as he took off his left shoulder guard and held it with his jolly roger facing the Baratie.

Don Krieg's crew, who Luffy had sent flying earlier, had swum back to watch the rest of the fight. When they saw Krieg holding his shoulder guard like that they began swimming away.

"It's the MH5 hurry everyone put on your gas masks," yelled one of the pirates in the water.

"What is MH5?" asked Luffy who had appeared back on the fin next to Gin.

"It's a deadly poison gas, we're all going to die," said Gin as tears continued streaming down his face.

"How about I make you a deal Gin. If I beat Don Krieg then how about you join my crew. I mean your captain is trying to kill," proposed Luffy with a smile.

"How can you possibly be talking like that at a time like this," yelled Gin.

"It's alright Gin, I'm not like Krieg. I would never let anything happen to anyone in my crew," said Luffy.

"LETHAL POISON GAS BOMB, MH5. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO DISOBEYS ME!" yelled Krieg as he fired the deadly poison.

The capsule containing the deadly poison was launched in a high arc towards the fin of the Baratie. As the capsule reached it's peak and began dropping, Luffy held out both hands and yelled, _AIR DOME_. After he said it he put his hands down and watched as a semi-transparent dome appeared around the Baratie, protecting the chefs, Sanji and Gin but not the attacking pirates. The capsule impacted with the dome causing it to release the poison. Everyone inside the dome watched as the poison lingered for a few seconds before it was swept away by the wind.

"What did you just do?" asked Gin, astonished by what he had just witnessed.

"I compressed the air around the Baratie into a thin line. When something comes in contact with the line, the compressed air will release causing whatever touched it to be repelled," answered Luffy with a small grin.

"You just saved my life. I think I will make that deal with you Luffy. If you beat Krieg I will join you," said Gin with a smile.

"Wooohoooo, I'm gonna have two new crew members by the time I leave this restaurant," yelled Luffy happily.

"Two members?" asked Sanji.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you. You're going to join my crew too," said Luffy with a childish grin.

"WHAT?" shouted Sanji.

Luffy didn't respond as he spun on his right foot and kicked out with his left shouting, _CORRECTION KICK_. Luffy disappeared before their eyes only to reappear right in front of Krieg. Using the momentum he had built up by spinning on his right foot he kicked Krieg in the gut, knocking him onto his butt.

"HAHAHA, you really think a weak attack like that well hurt my invincible armor?" laughed Krieg.

Just as he finished his sentence, cracks started to appear all over his precious armor.

"Looks like one more of these weak attacks is all it will take to beat something invincible pretty cool," said Luffy as he reappeared next to Sanji and Gin.

_CORRECTION KICK_ yelled Luffy while repeating the same action as before. This time Krieg was ready for it. Keeping his hands out in front of his body he prepared to block the kick. When Luffy reappeared Don Krieg attempted to grab onto Luffy's leg but before he could, Luffy disappeared again. He then reappeared behind Krieg and kicked him in the back.

"There wasn't much force on that one but it should do the trick," said Luffy as Krieg's armor shattered completely.

"H-h-how could a weakling like you destroy my armor?" stammered Krieg.

"This weakling is going to become the Pirate King so don't feel too bad about it" said Luffy before he disappeared again.

This time he reappeared hundreds of feet above the Baratie. Allowing himself to free-fall towards the restaurant and flipping his body in the air Luffy yelled, _FREE-FALL CORRECTION KICK_. Krieg was looking around fearfully for his attacker. As he got to his feet Luffy appeared right in front of him at about chest level. Luffy's flip continued with the immense momentum he had gained from free falling. As he continued to flip almost upside down at this point, he kicked his right leg out and made contact with Don Krieg's chin.

The result was immediate. Don Krieg shot off like a rocket into the horizon as Luffy landed lightly on his feet.

The chefs of the Baratie cheered at the overwhelming victory Luffy had just produced.

"Looks like you're a _Sky Pirate_ now Gin," said Luffy with a grin, after appearing next to Gin and Sanji.

"It looks that way doesn't it," answered Gin with a wide smile on his weathered face.

Luffy turned to Don Krieg's crew who were still in the water.

"I'm confiscating this ship. I will also let 10 of you join my crew and Gin will decide who gets to join," said Luffy, turning back to Gin and Sanji

"Luffy, what you said before about me joining your crew. I don't think I can do that," said Sanji.

"Don't you have a dream Sanji?" asked Luffy.

"Of course, my dream is to see all blue, the place where all the fish from all the ocean's in the world swim," answered Sanji with a huge smile on his face.

"But I can't just run off. I owe the old fart too much to just leave him," he continued.

"Who are you calling an old fart?" asked Zeff who had come to stand by the three of them.

"Sanji, you can think of your debt to me as paid. Go out to sea and fulfill your dream," Zeff continued with a hand on Sanji's shoulder.

They all just smiled as they made their way back to the Baratie to eat a well-deserved meal.

After eating their fill at the Baratie, Luffy, Gin and Sanji went out to inspect the members that Gin had picked out.

There were nine pirates lounging around outside. Gin went up to each one and introduced them to Luffy.

**17 years old, Percy Lerghill: Swordsman – **

He is 5ft 9inches with a tanned and muscular body. His hair is medium length, light brown and shaggy. He wears a blue, long-sleeved, silk jacket that only comes halfway down his torso. Under his jacket he wears a white undershirt. His silk pants are white and are very loose against his legs. Around his waste is a light blue cloth and on his back, strapped around his torso is a leather sheath holder. His hands are wrapped in tape, like a boxer and his eyes are a vibrant blue.

The weapon he uses is called Double Edged Staff. The part that he holds is a one and a half foot blue, wooden staff and attached to each side are crescent blades that face opposite ways from each other. The backsides of the blades are shaped like small waves and the metal has a light blue tint. If it is ever needed the weapon can be separated at the middle and wielded as two sword style.

**20 years old, ****Isaac Rartsmith: Swordsman** –

He is 6 ft 3 inches with white skin and a bulky yet muscular physique. He wears a long black coat that goes to his ankles with no shirt. His pants are light red and tucked into his black boots that reach up to mid-ankle. His hair is short, messy and black matching his black eyes.

The weapons he uses are Dual Short Broad Swords. The blades are about 4 inches wide at their widest and 2 ft long and are in the shape of half rain drops. The handle is made of wood while the blades have a black tint to them. The sheaths for the swords are strapped to his back. There are slits in his jacket by the shoulders where the blades can be sheathed.

**19 years old, Jago Drolpunk: Barehanded Fighter** –

He is 6 ft 5 inches with lightly tanned skin and a stocky build. He wears a simple white t-shirt with brown pants and brown boots. His long black hair is kept out of his brown eyes and away from his face by a white headband.

The only weapon he uses is a pistol holstered on his right side but he will rarely use it. His hands and up to the middle of his forearms are wrapped in white tape similar to the way Percy's hands are wrapped.

**16 years old, Rufus Sirtcat: Barehanded Fighter:**

He is 5 ft 5 inches with lightly tanned skin and a slightly muscular build. He wears a light purple, loose jacket and a white shirt underneath. His pants are also light purple and look tight but still allow for a wide range of movement. He wears a gray baseball cap covering his short black hair.

He uses no weapons, relying on his speed to dodge and evade. On his arms, under his jacket, he wears black arm guards that can be useful in blocking a sword strike.

**17 years old, Titus Ferthand: Sharpshooter –**

He is 5 ft 7 inches with white skin and a fit build but lacking muscle. He wears a long sleeve brown shirt, a pair of light yellow pants, and brown boots. His hair is a dark brown color and kept at a very short length, while his eyes are light brown.

His weapon of choice is a sniper rifle that he has strapped on his back. He also carries two pistols, one on each of his hips.

**16 years old, Miriam Nactheart: Sharpshooter –**

She is 5 ft 3 inches with slightly tanned skin and a well-toned body. She wears a blue jean vest with a pink shirt underneath covering her developed chest. She wears pink boots and blue jean pants that match her vest. Her eyes are blue and covering her blonde hair, which she keeps in a ponytail, is a pink bandana.

Her weapon of choice is a rifle which she keeps strapped to her back and she has throwing knives all down the outside of her legs as well as on the inside of her vest.

**23 years old, Sheldon Mofton: Cook –**

He is 5 ft 8 inches with white skin and an athletic build. He wears a white cooking apron over his black t-shirt, gray pants and black boots. His hair is a light brown color matching his light brown eyes.

He rarely fights but when he has to he will use cooking knives to defend himself.

**17 years old, Isabel Gloomith: Cook –**

She is 5 ft 7 inches with white skin and an athletic build. She wears a purple, short-sleeved sweater, covering her decent sized breasts, as well as black pants and black leather boots that come up to her knees. Her dark brown hair is kept down and covered by a light purple, medium brimmed hat that is tilted up so as not to cover her pretty face.

She is sufficient in hand to hand combat but dislikes fighting and is an excellent cook.

**21 years old, Vanna Gilrude: Navigator –**

She is 5 ft 10 inches with tanned skin and a fit body. She wears a light blue tube top, which extends to her waste, above her blue jean mini-skirt. She wears sandals and keeps her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail. She has dark brown eyes and a decent sized chest.

She carries a spear with her at all times for self defense.

"There are only nine because the rest were still loyal to Don Krieg. Only the younger ones that hadn't been in the crew for very long wanted to join." Said Gin as they past the last recruit.

"Okay everyone get onboard the _Gyrfalcon_ we have a navigator to get back," said Luffy as he walked towards his ship.

"Yes Sir," responded the recruits as they followed their new captain, while Gin followed behind.

Sanji took one last look at the Baratie before boarding the ship.

Once everyone had boarded, the ship set sail away from the Baratie and on to find Nami.

**((END CHAPTER))**

**Well there you have it. I'm starting to branch farther and farther from the original story line and I am probably going to change the circumstances of some future battles after the Arlong Arc. I hope you've enjoyed my story so far and I would appreciate it if you all would review.**

**Until next time**

**Jabbarulez said:****nice story! gotta ask though, what are they gonna do with all the ships?**

**4/5**

**And to that i answer:**

**As you saw in this chapter I'm going to be adding more crew members so i thought it would be fitting for Luffy to have more ships. thnx for the review**


	8. Subjugating a Fishman's Rule

**Hello all. Here is the next installment of Luffy And The Sky Pirates**

**I do not own One Piece**

**Subjugating A Fishman's Rule **

**((ON THE OSPREY))**

The _Osprey _sailed through the ocean following Nami who had stolen the _Albatross_. Zoro was asleep on the deck, still recovering from the wound inflicted by Mihawk while Usopp and Fitz were playing a game of cards. Johnny and Yosaku had been deemed the best navigators of the four conscious people and had to make sure the ship was following the _Albatross, _which could be seen far off in the distance.

"I win again," laughed Fitz as he collected the cards off the deck.

"How can you be so good at these games? We've played 10 different games and I haven't won a single one," pouted Usopp as he watched Fitz expertly shuffling the cards.

"My physical skills weren't the only things that I've been training over the years," answered Fitz as he continued to shuffle.

"How about another game?" he asked with a smile.

"No way, I've had enough losing for a while," answered Usopp as he got up and began climbing up to the crow's nest to talk with Johnny and Yosaku.

"Suit yourself," said Fitz, more to himself than Usopp, as he put the cards in his pocket and readjusted his glasses.

After standing up from his sitting position on the deck, Fitz pulled his book out from his back pocket, leaned against one of the masts and began reading.

"Are we almost there," asked Usopp as he stood up and looked around.

"I can almost make out something in the distance," said Johnny while looking through a spyglass.

"It looks like the _Albatross _is docking," he continued.

"Let me see," said Yosaku as he took the spyglass from Johnny.

"Wait a second that's Arlong Park," said Yosaku fearfully.

"What's Arlong Park?" asked Usopp as he shaded his eyes with his hand and looked into the distance.

"It's the home of a scary pirate," answered Yosaku.

"Yeah, that's where Arlong the Saw is. He's a fishman and captain of the Arlong pirates," continued Johnny.

"AHHHHHH! We have to tell Fitz," yelled Usopp as he bolted down the ladder.

"Fitz, Fitz we heading towards Arlong Park. What should we do?" asked Usopp fearfully

"What you can do is let me read in peace," answered Fitz

"B-b-but that's where Arlong the Saw is." Stuttered Usopp.

"So?" asked Fitz.

"WHHHHAAAT? Don't you know who Arlong the Saw is?" yelled Usopp

"No, do you?" asked Fitz

"Well now that you mention it, I've never heard of him." Said Usopp tapping his finger against his chin while thinking.

"Who's Arlong?" shouted Usopp up to Johnny and Yosaku.

"He's a fishman pirate." Johnny yelled back down

"AHHHHH he's a fishman pirate Fitz," yelled Usopp running around in circles.

"I know," said Fitz

"WAAAAAAHHHH… wait how did you know?" asked Usopp, stopping mid scream.

"Because I also heard what Johnny said," answered Fitz casually.

"Ah, that makes sense," said Usopp thinking again.

"Luffy told us to follow Nami so no matter who or what gets in our way, we are going to follow Nami," said Fitz returning to his book.

"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die," thought Usopp as he walked away from Fitz.

As the _Osprey_ came close to Konomi Island, where Arlong Park is located, Fitz dropped the anchor while Johnny and Yosaku lowered the small boat to take them to shore. Zoro, who had woken up, insisted on coming along.

"Alright we'll go to a restaurant in the town and ask people about Nami whiel we wait for Luffy to arrive," said Fitz once they had reached the shore and gotten out of the boat.

"Hide the boat behind some bushes, we don't want anyone finding it," said Zoro getting Johnny and Yosaku to drag the boat behind some bushes.

After the boat was hidden, they all walked toward the town. 

**((ON THE GYRFALCON))**

"Your amazing captain being able to make this ship fly," said Gin as the _Gyrfalcon_ flew across the sea.

The new crewmembers stood looking at their new captain with admiration. Luffy got down from his seat on top of the figurehead and moved to address the crew.

"All right I'm going to give each of you a job for when we get wherever we are going," said Luffy.

"Percy and Isaac, your commander will be Roronoa Zoro. You will take your orders from me as well as him," said Luffy.

"Yes sir," Percy and Isaac both said in unison.

"Jago and Rufus, your commander will be Fitz Ladhawk. You will take your orders from me as well as him," said Luffy turning to the pair of them.

"Yes sir," they both answered.

"Titus and Miriam, your commander will be Usopp. You will take your orders from me as well as him," said Luffy.

"Yes captain," was their reply.

"Sheldon and Isabel, your commander is Sanji. You will take your orders from me as well as him," said Luffy.

"Yes sir," they said to Luffy and also Sanji who was leaning on the guardrail of the upper deck, having just come out of the kitchen.

"And that leaves you Vanna," said Luffy, turning to the last of the new members.

"Your commander will be Nami once we get her back," He continued with a smile.

After finding out their positions in the crew, the newcomers dispersed throughout the ship.

"Luffy, there's an island up ahead and I can see another one of our ships," shouted Vanna from the crow's nest

"Alright, looks like this is the place," said Luffy.

As the _Gyrfalcon_ came closer to the island, Luffy stopped it right next to the _Osprey, _dropped the anchor and ferried everyone to shore on one of the lifeboats.

"We should probably hide our lifeboat," said Sanji looking at the new recruits.

"But we can't have a beautiful lady doing that… Sheldon, you'll have to do it yourself," continued Sanji.

"Yes sir," said Sheldon angrily as he dragged the boat behind some bushes only to find the _Osprey's_ lifeboat.

"Luffy, I found another life boat and it looks like it's from the _Osprey_," said Sheldon

"That means they had to go that way," said Luffy pointing in a random direction and walking in that direction with everyone following.

As they all followed Luffy into the forest a pair of fishmen could be seen making they're way down the coast.

"Luffy do you have any idea where you're going?" asked Sanji as he followed a confident looking Luffy.

"Of course, I'm going this way," answered Luffy as he pointed in the direction he was walking.

"Ok but shouldn't we have left someone to guard the ships?" asked Gin walking next to Sanji.

"Don't worry, I put up an _Air Dome_ around the ships, if anyone tries to get through it I'll know," answered Luffy as he continued walking.

They had been walking for about an hour when something strange happened. There was a patch of ground that had been covered up by leaves. Luffy just walked right over it and nothing happened but when Gin and Sanji walked over it they fell through a hole in the ground.

"Luffy, Gin and Sanji have fallen down a hole in the ground," yelled Percy causing Luffy to turn around.

"What are you guys doing down there?" asked Luffy as he looked into the hole and tilted his head sideways.

"It looks like someone was trying to cover it up with leaves," said Sanji as he looked around to get his bearings.

"Well someone did a really terrible job," said Gin angrily as he also looked around.

"What do you see?" asked Jago.

"All I can see is a lot of rocks and what looks like a tree," said Gin

"Is there any fruit on the tree?" asked Luffy

"Yeah there is only one but it looks weird," answered Sanji.

"What does it look like?" asked Luffy

"It looks like a small red watermelon with green streaks through it," answered Gin.

"That must be a devil fruit. Bring it up," said Luffy.

"And how exactly are we supposed to get out of this hole?" asked Sanji.

"Like this," said Luffy as he moved his right hand.

This caused a massive gust of wind to throw Gin and Sanji out of the hole.

"Here Percy and Rufus, you two take this back to the _Gyrfalcon_ and don't eat it no matter what," said Luffy having caught the devil fruit that Gin had dropped.

"Yes sir," they both said as they turned to leave.

"Gin I want you to follow behind them," said Luffy

"Why is that captain?" asked Gin.

"Because someone is trying to get through my _Air Dome,_" said Luffy casually as he turned and continued walking through the forest. 

**((AT THE SHORE))**

"So this is a devil fruit?" asked Rufus as he and Percy were running through the forest to get back to the ship.

"I guess so but we can ask Luffy about it after we have it safely on the ship," answered Percy as they came to the shore.

When they got to the shore they could see that six fishmen where trying to get through the _Air Dome_ that Luffy had put up. A fishman in the water turned around and saw them and all of the fishmen made their way out of the water. Percy and Rufus soon found themselves surrounded by fishman

"Well look what we have here," said one of them.

"Are those your ships?" asked another with a menacing glare as Percy began unsheathing his _Double Edged Staff_.

"What do you have in your hand boy?" asked one of the fishmen noticing the devil fruit in Rufus' hand.

"Rufus, we can't let them get that fruit," whispered Percy getting into a fighting stance.

"I know," whispered Rufus as he held onto the devil fruit tighter.

"You have to get back to the ship, ill hold them off" whispered Percy

"Ok," whispered Rufus, as they both got ready.

"It looks like these guys want to fight," said one fishman walking forward.

When he took his step forward, Percy made his move. Swinging the _Double Edged Staff_ with his right hand he slashed the fishman's throat. Before any of them had time to react, Percy let the momentum of his first attack spin him around and grabbing his weapon with both hands, he put two gashes into another fishman from shoulder to hip in the shape of an x.

This caused the remaining four fishmen to get extremely angry and they all attacked at once. Percy dodged the first punch thrown by one of the fishmen and slashed him on the arm but was unable to finish him because the next attack came too fast. Percy dodged to his left, feeling the wind from the kick pass by his face. As he was about to slash the fishman who had tried to kick him Percy was sent flying by a kick to the gut from a fishman who had moved into his blind spot.

Rufus had made it to where the lifeboat was without any of the fishmen noticing but when he tried to pull the lifeboat onto the shore, he was spotted by one of the fishmen. The fishman started to walk towards him and seeing the enemy coming he took off running inn the opposite direction.

"I have to protect the fruit and it doesn't look like I'll be able to get to the ship with these guys around here," thought Rufus as he continued running, the fishman hot on his heels.

Percy, who had been sent sprawling into a nearby tree, was now standing with blood dripping down his face.

"Woah you're still alive," laughed one of the fishman.

"He's a durable human," said another causing the three of them to laugh.

While the fishmen were laughing, Percy took the cloth around his waist and tied it to his right wrist and his _Double Edged Staff_. He then took off running towards the three fishmen who were standing in a circle, still laughing to themselves. When Percy reached the first of the three fishmen, who was facing the other way, he slashed him twice across the back in the shape of an x. As the fishman fell he spun past him and while he was spinning he separated his _Double Edged Staff_ and slashed the nearest fishman's throat. Continuing to spin he then threw the half of his weapon tied to his wrist, to the right of the last fishman. Using the momentum caused by the spinning, Percy pulled the half of his weapon and slashed the fishman across the chest. While still spinning Percy moved closer to the fishman, caught the half of his weapon tied to his wrist and stabbed the fishman in the chest with both blades.

Pulling his blades from fishman, Percy staggered backwards.

"I wonder what happened to Rufus," thought Percy as he passed out. 

**((AT THE RESTAURANT))**

"These people are weird, kicking out paying customers for no reason," said Usopp as he walked down the path with Zoro, Fitz, Johnny and Yosaku.

As they all made their way down the path they heard a huge explosion a little ways away.

"What the hell was that," said Zoro as he looked in the direction the explosion had come from and seeing birds flying out of the trees around the area.

"This way," said Fitz as he ran towards the area.

When they got there they could hardly believe what they were seeing. There was a huge crater in the ground and at the bottom of the crater was a teenager standing over a dead fishman. Seeing the new arrivals the teenager looked up fearfully.

"Who are you?" the teenager asked as he climbed out of the crater.

"We should be asking you that but I am Fitz Ladhawk," answered Fitz.

"Roronoa Zoro and this is Usopp. We are the crew of the _Sky Pirates_," said Zoro, pointing to himself and then Usopp who was hiding behind him.

Johnny and Yosaku chose not to say anything, keeping their distance from this strange boy.

"Thank god, I'm Rufus Sirtcat I just joined the _Sky Pirates,_" said the teenager now standing on the edge of the crater he had created.

"Your Fitz right? Luffy said that you are my commander," continued Rufus.

"What have you been doing Luffy?" asked Fitz as Luffy appeared next to him.

"WAAAAAHHH! Don't just appear in front of people," yelled Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku.

"What happened Rufus?" asked Luffy as the rest of the _Sky Pirates_ joined them.

"When we got to the shore, there were six fishmen waiting for us. Percy started fighting them while I tried to get the lifeboat and bring the devil fruit to the ship but I was spotted by one of the fishmen. He started chasing me so I ran away trying to keep the devil fruit from him but as I was running I tripped on a tree root and accidentally ate the fruit. The fishman caught up to me and grabbed me by the neck, holding me off the ground. I punched him in the face and then this happened. When I looked around the fishman was dead and I was at the bottom of that crater," finished Rufus pointing to the crater.

"It seems you've eaten a powerful fruit, would you mind telling me what it looked like?" asked Fitz.

"It was a small watermelon shaped fruit that was red with green streaks," answered Rufus as Fitz took out his Devil Fruit encyclopedia.

"Well it looks like you ate the Smash Smash devil fruit," said Fitz as he put the book away and readjusted his glasses.

"If you're not careful anything you touch with your bare skin will end up like that, we should try and find you some gloves," continued Fitz as he pointed to the crater.

"Thank you," said Rufus.

"By the way what happened to Percy? When I left him he was still fighting three fishmen," asked Rufus fearfully

"He's right here," said Gin coming out of the forest with Percy on his back.

"I watched the whole thing, Percy took out five fishmen on his own," continued Gin as he placed Percy on the ground.

"Oh that reminds me, we have to introduce the new members," said Luffy

"Fitz, you've already met Rufus but this is Jago Drolpunk. Both of them will be your subordinates," said Luffy as Jago stepped

"Zoro, your subordinates are Isaac Rartsmith and Percy Lerghill," said Luffy as he pointed to both.

"Looks like I got some strong ones," said Zoro with a smile as he walked over to Percy, Isaac following behind.

"Usopp, your subordinates are Titus Ferthand and Miriam Nactheart," said Luffy as they both walked over to Usopp and introduced themselves.

"Those two are Isabel Gloomith and Sheldon Mofton and they are Sanji's subordinates," said Luffy pointing to the two.

"And this is Vanna Gilrude, she will be Nami's subordinate once we get her back," said Luffy pointing to Vanna who bowed shyly.

"Speak of the devil," said Zoro as he noticed Nami walking down the path.

"Are you trying to say that my beautiful Nami-chan is a devil?" asked Sanji angrily

"Just an expression," said Zoro casually dismissing Sanji's question as Nami stopped in front of Luffy.

"What the hell are you guys doing here? I thought you would have gone to the grand line by now." Asked Nami angrily.

"You took one of my ships and it's not like I will go on adventures without my navigator. I'd get lost," answered Luffy with a smile.

"You don't even know what's going on here," yelled Nami.

"No I don't," answered Luffy

"What the hell is that?" Nami yelled as she noticed the crater.

"That was one of our new recruits, there's a fishman at the bottom and five more at the beach," answered Luffy

"You guys have to get out of here," said Nami with a horrified look on her face.

"He'll kill you all," she continued

"And who exactly is going to kill all of us?" asked Luffy, tilting his head to the side.

"It doesn't matter, just leave, all of you, I'm not part of your crew anymore," yelled Nami as she ran back the way she came.

"What do you want to do Luffy?" asked Zoro.

"I'm going for a walk, do what you like for the time being. I'll get you all when it's time," said Luffy as he started walking in the direction Nami went.

"Oh and Gin can you take Percy into town and see if you can find a doctor?" asked Luffy

"Sure Luffy," answered Gin as he put Percy on his shoulder and walked in the opposite direction of Luffy.

"Time? Time for what?" Usopp asked looking at Zoro.

"Sure thing captain," said Zoro with a smile as he sat down leaning against a tree.

"What was he talking about," asked Usopp looking at Fitz.

"You'll see," said Fitz as he too sat with his back to a tree and began reading.

"Sanji do you know what's going on?" asked Usopp as he turned to look at Sanji who was hitting on Isabel.

"What about you guys?" asked Usopp as he turned to the new recruits.

"Lets check out the crater that Rufus made," said Jago as they all went down into the crater.

"WHY WON'T ANYONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?" yelled Usopp 

**((WITH NAMI))**

Nami went back to her home on the island to find marines searching her house.

"What are you marines doing?" she yelled

"We've received reports of your thievery," said a marine.

He wore a white marine coat that he kept buttoned. He had a white hat with 'marines' written on it and circular ears on top. He had long whiskers coming from his nose and a thin goatee, giving him the appearance of a rat.

"Hurry up and search the house there should be 100 million beli hidden here," said the marine

"What are you talking about? How do you know how much there is? Did Arlong tell you?" asked Nami with a horrified look on her face

"Just a hunch. Dig up the orange trees they look suspicious," said the marine

"NOOO! I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH BELLEMERE'S ORANGE TREES!" Nami screamed as she took out her staff and hit a marine in the face.

"What do you think you marines are doing?" yelled a girl with blue hair.

"Nojiko, they're trying to dig up Bellemere's orange trees," yelled Nami

"Get rid of them. They are hindering the search," ordered the rat-faced marine.

"Yes sir," one marine said as he took out his pistol and fired. 

**((WITH LUFFY))**

Luffy, who had been going for a walk, stopped as he got to a town when he saw a crowd gathered around some people. He pushed his way through the crowd to see Nami on her knees crying while a doctor looked at the bullet wound on a blue-haired girl.

"What's going on here?" asked Luffy

Nami turned to see who had asked the question and saw Luffy but just continued crying.

"Hello my name is Genzo I am the sheriff and mayor of Cocoyashi Village. Who might you be?" asked a man wearing a brown hat with a pinwheel in it.

"I'm Luffy, a friend of Nami's. Can you tell me what happened?" asked Luffy

"It seems Arlong, the fishman who has been keeping us in slavery, has betrayed Nami. Arlong promised her that if she saved up 100 million beli then she could buy back the village, but he sent the marines that are working for him to take the money," answered Genzo

"Would you mind telling me where I can find this Arlong person?" asked Luffy with a hint of anger in his voice

"He's on the other side of the island, at Arlong Park," answered Genzo

"Thank you," said Luffy as he turned to walk away.

"Luffy what are you going to do?" asked Nami with tears still streaming down her face.

"I'm just going to have a little talk with the person who made my navigator cry," said Luffy as he disappeared.

"Luffy," Nami whispered.

Luffy reappeared on the path where his crew was.

"All right it's time," he said as he kept walking past them.

"Lets go guys," said Fitz to the rest of the crew that were still in the crater.

After everyone got up they all followed after Luffy. Fitz was on his left and Zoro was on his right while Sanji and Usopp were on either side of Fitz and Zoro and Gin, who had come back from the town before Luffy, was on Sanji's left. The rest of the crew followed behind.

When the _Sky Pirates _got to the gates of Arlong Park, the villagers were already there. Seeing Luffy coming, they made a path for him and his crew. As he came to the gate he stopped and faced the new arrivals.

"I think it would be best if you guys sit this one out and just watch. I don't want any of you dying," said Luffy

"Yes sir," the answered in unison.

"Shall we then?" Luffy asked as he turned back around to face the gate.

"Let's do it," answered Zoro with a smile while the rest of the crew nodded.

"I'll let him know we are here," said Luffy as he held out his right hand and yelled _AIR BLAST_.

The gate and most of the wall was destroyed and sent flying into the sea. Luffy walked through the dust and stopped to look around.

"Which one of you is Arlong?" he asked angrily

"That would be me," said a blue fishman smiling.

He wore green shorts, a yellow short-sleeved button up shirt left open and a fury hat. He had blue skin with a fin sticking out from his back, razor sharp teeth and a long jagged nose. He stood up to face Luffy and towered over him.

"What do you want with me you human filth?" asked Arlong with disgust

Luffy took out his revolver, pointed it at Arlong and pulled the trigger twice, sending Arlong flying into the wall on the opposite side of Arlong Park.

"That's quite an attack you've got there," said Arlong as he sat up in the rubble, completely unharmed by the attack.

"Wait Arlong don't get angry. If you get serious Arlong Park will be destroyed," said a light blue fishman.

He was wearing a dark blue gi with a black belt. His hair was pulled back into a long ponytail and his elbows had fins jutting out from them.

"I know Kuroobi, ill let you three handle them," answered Arlong referring to the octopus fishman and the smelt-whiting fishman

In the middle of Arlong's sentence, Kuroobi threw a punch at Luffy, which just passed right through his head.

"What?" thought Kuroobi.

"I'm not fighting anyone other than you," said Luffy pointing at Arlong while his face reformed.

"You think that you will be too tired to fight me if you fight them? Or is it that you don't think you could beat all of us?" asked Arlong with a smile, still sitting in the rubble.

"Nope. My crew would be angry if I took all the fun," Luffy said as Gin hit Kuroobi in the face with his tonfa sending him flying towards Sanji.

"We can't let Luffy get all the credit for beating you guys," said Sanji as he kicked Kuroobi out of the air and into the ground.

The rest of Arlong's crew stood watching with eyes wide and mouths gaping open.

"What are you guys standing there for? Attack them," shouted Arlong as his crew started charging.

_AIR BLAST, _shouted Luffy, sending almost all the fishmen flying into the walls of Arlong Park.

There were four fishmen remaining including Arlong.

"We didn't come here to fight small fry," said Luffy as he turned and faced Arlong again.

"Hatchan take them out," shouted Arlong as the octopus fishman took out six swords and started running at Luffy's crew.

"You too Chew," yelled Arlong as the smelt-whiting fishman started to charge.

"I'll take the octopus," said Zoro as he put his black bandana on.

"I'll take the other," said Fitz as he took off his glasses and his shirt.

"That only leaves one left, I guess Sanji and I will have to team-up," said Gin while Sanji nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Too bad for me, looks like there is no one left for me to fight so I'll just stay all the way back here and cover you guys," said Usopp as he backed away towards the hole in the wall Luffy had created.

By this time Nami had arrived to watch the battle and was surprised to see that almost all the fishmen were unconscious. Johnny and Yosaku were making sure that none of the villagers tried to interfere. A little further away, unknown to everyone in the area, the rat-faced marine and his men were watching the fight.

"Should we go in and fight as well, Captain Nezumi?" asked a marine.

"No, we'll let them kill each other and then arrest them once they are tired," answered Nezumi laughing to himself.

"I still can't believe that the pirates fighting Arlong are rookies," stated another marine.

Back in Arlong Park, Zoro was squaring off with Hatchan, Fitz was up against Chew and Gin and Sanji were getting ready to fight Kuroobi as he slowly got to his feet.

"We'll show you why your race is inferior to ours," yelled Chew as he charged at Fitz.

"Inferior? Luffy is it ok if I show them just how inferior I am?" asked Fitz completely ignoring his attacker.

"Do what you want," was all Luffy said as he kept his smoldering stare on Arlong.

"Roger," smiled Fitz as he started to transform into his gargoyle-human hybrid form.

"Lets see which of us is more of a monster," said Fitz as Chew came towards him.

Chew swung at Fitz but with a flap of his wings Fitz took to the air. Shouting _Rankyaku_, Fitz sent two air blades at Chew. Chew was able to avoid one but the other grazed his right shoulder. As Chew recomposed himself, blood running down his right arm, he looked around for Fitz.

"Are you feeling superior now?" asked Fitz from behind Chew.

Chew swung his left arm at the source of the voice only for Fitz to duck the attack and uppercut him in the stomach. Coughing up blood, Chew staggered backwards.

"I'll show you one of the reasons why you aren't superior to me in anyway," said Fitz as he flapped his wings and took off towards Chew.

_Gargoyle Stone Slash, _yelled Fitz as he slashed Chew across the chest with his claws.

"These cuts aren't that deep," said Chew, as he stood tall again, barely any blood coming out of the wound.

"It's not the deepness of the wound that you have to worry about now," said Fitz as Chew started to turn to stone.

"What did you do to me?" asked Chew fearfully as his body turned to stone.

Like a virus it spread from the cuts on Chew's chest.

"If I can get my claws underneath your skin, I can turn you to stone," said Fitz casually as he walked up to Chew.

"GAAAAAHHHH," screamed Chew as he turned completely into a statue.

Fitz then grabbed Chew and threw him up in the air. As Chew fell back to earth, Fitz spun on one leg and lashed out with his tail. _GARGOYLE TAIL WHIP,_ yelled Fitz as he struck Chew with his tail, shattering him to pieces.

At the same time Fitz and Chew were fighting, Zoro and Hatchan were facing off.

"Johnny, Yosaku can I borrow your swords for a bit?" asked Zoro as he inhaled heavily due to the wound inflicted by Mihawk and put his katana in his mouth.

"Sure thing," they both said as they threw their swords towards Zoro.

_Smokescreen_, yelled Hatchan as he spewed black ink at Zoro and charged. Zoro sidestepped the ink attack, caught the two swords, and slashed at Hatchan's legs, causing him to fall to the ground as blood spewed from the fresh wounds on both legs.

As Hatchan stood back up, Zoro went into his _Demon Slash _stance. _Rankyaku Demon Slash_, yelled Zoro as he sent three air blades at Hatchan who parried them with the six swords he held in his hands.

"You think you will be able to beat my six swords with just your three?" asked Hatchan as he charged at Zoro again.

_Dragon Twister_, yelled Zoro as he spun around, creating a tornado and sending Hatchan flying into the air and inflicting numerous gashes on his body. Just before Hatchan hit the ground Zoro yelled, _Tiger Hunt _inflicting more gashes on Hatchan's already beaten body.

After confirming that Hatchan was incapacitated, Zoro leaned up against a pillar and passed out.

"Looks like he did well even though the wound that he received from Mihawk hasn't completely healed yet," stated Gin as he turned to face Kuroobi who was standing, blood streaming down his face.

"He is a tough bastard," said Sanji as he joined Gin in facing Kuroobi.

"We should try to make this fast. It looks like Luffy is getting impatient," said Gin as he turned to look at Luffy who was still staring unblinkingly at Arlong.

"Shouldn't you be more focused on our fight," yelled Kuroobi as he punched Gin in the face sending him flying into the water.

_Collier Shot, _yelled Sanji as he jumped in the air and kicked Kuroobi in the neck, causing him to fly into one of the pillars.

"I'm going to have to repay you for that cheap shot," said Gin as he made his way over to Kuroobi having climbed out of the sea.

As Kuroobi got back to his feet, rubble falling off his body and blood running down his face, Gin yelled _Double Tonfa Hammer_. Keeping his arms stretched outward from his body, he spun around and hit Kuroobi in the chest with both tonfa, sending him flying towards Sanji once again.

Sanji then yelled _Poitrine_ and kicked Kuroobi in the chest, sending him straight up in the air. As he fell back to earth, both Gin and Sanji jumped into the air. Gin yelled, _Tonfa Hammer_, striking Kuroobi in the chest with one tonfa. At the same time Sanji yelled _Collier_ and kicked Kuroobi in the neck. The force of the simultaneous attacks sent Kuroobi careening towards the ground. His body struck the cement with so much force that a small crater was created and inside the crater Kuroobi lay beaten and bloody.

Once their fight concluded they joined Fitz, who was reading against a part of the wall that was still intact, and sat down.

"Looks like it's finally my turn to kill you but how about I show you just how helpless you are in this situation. How about we fight underwater," said Luffy with a smile.

"Did he just say underwater?" thought everyone who was watching.

"You dare to challenge a fishman in the water?" laughed Arlong as he got to his feet.

"I will make you regret ever coming here," He said as he jumped into the water.

"And I will make you feel just as helpless as you made Nami feel," said Luffy as he walked to the edge of the water.

Yelling_ AIR PROTECTION,_ he jumped into the water.

When he came face to face with Arlong, Luffy had created a large bubble around himself to avoid the devastating effects of the sea on devil fruit eaters.

"You really believe that you can beat me, a fishman, superior to humans in every way, underwater?" asked Arlong

"Well there is a move that I've been wanting to try but I just haven't had the chance," answered Luffy with a smile.

"I'll make you eat those words," yelled Arlong as he dove for Luffy, intending to spear him with his nose.

Luffy didn't even move as he yelled _COLOR OF ARMAMENTS HARDENING:_ _BUBBLE HAMMER_. Using the bubbles made by Arlong's movements, Luffy created a hammer colored black due to the effects of his haki. Striking Arlong in the back with the hammer, Luffy sent him careening to the bottom of the ocean. It took some time but Arlong then appeared out of the dust created by the impact and flying towards Luffy, rage in his eyes.

_COLOR OF ARMAMENTS HARDENING: BUBBLE MONSTER_ yelled Luffy as a massive form appeared in front of him, created from the bubbles that Arlong made from his movements.

The monster that appeared was human shaped but had no hands or head. It was colored black due to the effects of Luffy's haki.

"How are you doing that?" asked Arlong in anger.

"I'm an air human. If there are any bubbles in the water I can make them expand and put them into any form I want," answered Luffy with a cheeky grin.

"I'm going to kill you," screamed Arlong in fury as he charged towards Luffy once again, intending to bite him to death.

"How about we take this fight back to the surface," said Luffy as the bubble monster hit Arlong with an uppercut in the stomach, sending him careening through the water and into the air.

As Arlong flew up in the air Luffy came out of the water, having allowed his bubble monster to revert back into bubbles, he floated above the water. Everyone who was watching, including the marines, stood with eyes wide and mouths gaping open at the site of the boy who ate a devil fruit coming out of the sea.

As Arlong began falling back towards the sea Luffy kicked out his right leg and yelled, _CORRECTION KICK_. Appearing in front of the falling Arlong, Luffy used the momentum from the kick before to send Arlong flying into the upper levels of his tower.

Luffy appeared in the room that Arlong crashed into. Looking around he saw maps stacked up all over the room. While Arlong recomposed himself, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, Luffy walked to the lone desk in the room. There was a map on the table and a pen coated in blood.

"What is this room?" asked Luffy angrily, a dark aura emanating from him.

"This is Nami's room, she is quite a brilliant girl for a human," said Arlong as he got to his feet, eyeing Luffy warily.

Luffy yelled _AIR BLAST_, and sent everything in the room, aside from Arlong and himself, flying out.

"What are you doing? This is eight years of work," yelled Arlong as he charged at Luffy.

"I'm going to destroy this whole place," answered Luffy in a low voice as he sidestepped Arlong who was trying to bite him.

_COMPRESSION SPHERE,_ yelled Luffy as he created a sphere that surrounded the tower.

"Oh no, we have to get out of here," yelled Fitz as he grabbed Zoro.

"What's going on?" asked Sanji as Fitz ran towards the exit with Zoro on his back.

"Don't talk just run. Everyone run away from here," yelled Fitz as he ran out of Arlong Park, followed by everyone that had been watching.

The sphere that Luffy created had a dark outline and was slowly getting smaller.

"This place is where Nami was tortured and held captive for years," said an enraged Luffy as he sidestepped another futile attempt of Arlong's to bite him.

Arlong fell to his knees as the pressure inside the sphere started rising to levels above the pressure levels on the ocean floor. The tower was slowly getting crushed as the sphere became smaller and smaller.

"I'm going to erase your existence from this earth," yelled Luffy.

Arlong began to scream and roll on the floor as blood started coming out of his ears. The sphere was now so small that only the room that Luffy and Arlong were in was left. The rest of the tower had turned to dust.

"You don't deserve to live after what you've down and I will be the one to make you pay for your sins," said Luffy in a low voice as the room around them turned to dust.

Arlong had already passed out due to the pressure and his body was beginning to get crushed. As the sphere got so small that only Luffy remained inside he whispered _Release. _The sphere expanded at a rapid rate and then exploded as the pressure was released all at once, sending everything in the near vicinity flying in all directions.

Once the winds became calm again, Fitz and the other spectators made their way back to Arlong Park. When they got there they saw Luffy hanging in the air, his white scarf flapping in the light wind and no trace of the tower or Arlong. When Luffy noticed them watching him, he turned to face them in the air.

"NAMI! YOU ARE OUR NAKAMA!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, causing a fresh stream of tears to flow down her cheeks and the rest of the crew to smile.

"We're finally free," yelled Genzo as he hugged Nojiko and the rest of the villagers began cheering.

As Luffy joined his crew, a big smile on his face as he saw the reactions from the villagers, Nami came up and hugged him.

"Thank you Luffy, I'm really glad that you would let me back into your crew," she said while tears continued flowing down her cheeks

While everyone was laughing and recounting the fights, the marines came out of the forest, lead by Nezumi.

"That's enough celebrating for now," yelled Nezumi

"It's him," said Nojiko clutching her bullet wound.

"Looks like today is the best day of my life. I'll be taking credit for beating Arlong and I will be taking all of the riches of Arlong Park," laughed Nezumi.

"Jago do you think you can deal with our unwanted guest?" asked Fitz as he readjusted his glasses.

"Sure thing commander," answered Jago as he charged at Nezumi and punched him into his subordinates.

When Jago was done, there was a pile of bloody beaten marines with Nezumi on top. Nami walked up to Nezumi.

"This is for Nojiko and ruining Bellemere's orange groves," she said as she hit him in the face with her staff sending him sliding across the ground.

Nami walked over to where Nezumi landed and started pulling on his whiskers.

"I'll do anything you say," whimpered Nezumi.

"You are going to help rebuild the village and you aren't going to touch any of the money left by the fishmen, that belongs to the villagers. Oh and give me back my money," said Nami as she released her hold on Nezumi's whiskers.

"I'm going to get you back for this, especially you in the white scarf. What's your name?" asked Nezumi as he jumped into the water.

"You can call me Air-Master: Luffy," answered Luffy with a smile.

"Alright air master, you are going to be big. There won't be a marine in the world that doesn't know you name," yelled Nezumi as he swam away with the rest of his subordinates.

"How did he know that I'm going to be the pirate king?" asked Luffy tilting his head to the side.

"I don't think he was talking about that," answered Zoro.

"I wonder if I'll get a bounty after this," said Usopp more to himself than anyone.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING," yelled Sanji, Zoro and Gin.

"We have to bring the news of Arlong's defeat to the rest of the island," yelled some villagers as they ran off to spread the news.

The Next few days were filled with parties, feasts and singing as everyone on the island celebrated their freedom. On the day of the _Sky Pirates _departure, Fitz came up to Luffy holding two devil fruits in his hands.

"Where did you get those?" asked Luffy

"When I was training Rufus to control his devil fruit behind where Arlong Park used to be, he created a bunch of craters in the ground. At the bottom of some of the craters we found an underground tunnel that went under Arlong Park. It seems that Arlong was hoarding devil fruits so that no one could eat them. I think he was afraid of them," answered Fitz.

Luffy looked at the fruits in Fitz's hands. In his left hand he held an orange colored apple with green swirls and in his right hand he held a green banana with yellow zigzagging lines through it.

"Do you know what powers they will give?" asked Luffy.

"The apple shaped one seems to be the Mist Mist paramecia fruit and the banana shaped one is a Cat Cat zoan fruit but I'm not sure which variation it is yet," answered Fitz.

"Well take them to the ship and get Usopp to build some kind of chest for both. Tell him to make it pretty big because it seems like we can't go anywhere without finding a devil fruit," said Luffy.

"Alright," said Fitz as he walked away in search of Usopp.

By midday, the _Sky Pirate _commanders including Gin had boarded the _Gyrfalcon_, while the subordinates boarded the _Osprey_. After saying their goodbyes to the villagers, the _Sky Pirates_ set sail in search of new adventures. 

**((END CHAPTER))**

**And there you have it. I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it. Please review.**

**Until Next Time**


	9. A Run In With A Smoker

**Hello everyone. I realize that it has been a while since a put out a new chapter and for that I apologize, but I made this one extra long and extra special just for you.**

**I do not own One Piece!**

**A Run In With A Smoker**

After leaving Konomi Island, the _Sky Pirates_ were sailing leisurely on the ocean as Luffy had been convinced by Nami not to fly them to the next island. The _Gyrfalcon_ was sailing ahead with the _Osprey _and_ Albatross_ on either side. The commanders of the _Sky Pirates_, including Gin, where sailing on the _Gyrfalcon_, while the subordinates sailed on the _Osprey _leaving the _Albatross _to sail with the help of Luffy's power.

Zoro was in the crow's nest trying to sleep off the near fatal wound he had received from Mihawk, while Sanji was in the kitchen on the upper deck. Usopp was sitting on the deck by one of the masts, working on a new kind of bullet for his _trifecta_ while Gin observed, having become interested in Usopp's inventions. Nami was at the wheel of the ship making sure they stayed on course to the next island and Fitz was reading, leaning up against the guardrail of the ship. Luffy, who had made it very clear that no one was to sit on his special seat, was relaxing on the figurehead.

As they sailed along peacefully a news coo flew by the ship and landed on the guardrail directly above Fitz. It dropped the newspaper on Fitz's head and flew off.

"You stupid bird, couldn't you find anywhere else to drop this?" yelled Fitz as he stood up and shook his fist at the bird which was now far away.

"Oh, a newspaper," said Nami as she came down from the upper deck.

As she flipped through the newspaper a few parchments fell out and on to the deck. Luffy, who had gotten off the figurehead, came over and picked up the parchments. His eyes immediately turned into stars after seeing what was on the papers.

"Everyone, everyone, look at this," said Luffy as he held the parchments above his head.

"We're wanted now," he yelled as everyone came around to look at the posters.

Nami grabbed the posters from his hands and looked at them with terror in her eyes. 

**Wanted Dead or Alive – Air Master Luffy: 100,000,000 beli**

(The picture is Luffy hanging in the air after destroying Arlong Park. His scarf is waving in the wind, there is a glint of light reflected off his goggles, his eyes are closed and he has a small grin on his face) 

**Wanted Dead or Alive – Demon Fitz Ladhawk: 40,000,000 beli**

(The picture is Fitz with his shirt off, showing his muscular body, after he defeated Chew. The picture was taken with Fitz in mid transformation with his wings and tail while the rest of his body is back to normal) 

**Wanted Dead or Alive – Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro 30,000,000 beli**

(The picture is Zoro with his shirt off, revealing the scar on his torso, after he defeated Hatchan. He still has his black bandana on, his eyes are closed and his head is tilted upwards. There is a small stream of blood, that is not his, going down his cheek.) 

"Yay, we're wanted," yelled Luffy as he did the can-can with Fitz, while Zoro stood next to them laughing.

"Don't any of you get the gravity of the situation we're in?" asked Nami looking at the three of them.

After Sanji and Gin found out they didn't get a wanted poster, they were sulking in the corner.

"The marines are going to be actively trying to catch us now. Especially with these high bounties," said Nami still trying to get their attention.

"You're right Nami, the highest bounty before ours was Arlong at 20,000,000 beli, but now all three of us are higher than that," said Fitz with a big smile on his face before going back to dancing with Luffy.

"With these bounties I don't think we will be able to stay in East Blue anymore," said Nami.

"Looks like we are finally going to the Grand Line," said Gin who stopped sulking

"Nami I see an island up ahead," said Zoro pointing to the upcoming island

"Ah, that's Logue town. That's where the Pirate King was executed and one of the last islands before Reverse Mountain, the entrance to the Grand Line," said Nami looking in the direction Zoro was pointing.

"That's where the Pirate King died," stated Luffy looking at the island.

"Looks like that's going to be our next stop," said Fitz with a smile as he adjusted his glasses. 

As the _Sky Pirate's_ ships pulled into the docks of Logue town, Luffy let the crew know what they should do.

"Ok, each of you should go with your commanders. We're wanted men know so we should all be careful," said Luffy as everyone gathered on the docks having gotten off the ships.

"We're wanted already?" asked Percy with a smile.

"Oh yeah, you guys don't know yet. Luffy, Fitz and Zoro have bounties on their heads. It's going to get dangerous from here on out," said Nami

"Congratulations guys," the crew said giving the three of them high fives.

"I'm in a crew of idiots," thought Nami.

"Alright I'm going to visit the execution platform," said Luffy before he disappeared.

"Well I'll make my way over to the execution platform as well in case Luffy causes some trouble," said Fitz as walked into the town tailed by Rufus and Jago

"I'm going to look for some ingredients," said Sanji as Sheldon and Isabel walked after him.

"I should check out some of the equipment they are selling here," said Usopp walking off with Titus and Miriam.

"I'll go with you," said Gin as he ran after Usopp.

"I'm gonna go replace my katanas," said Zoro, walking away as Percy and Isaac followed.

"We should go shopping Vanna," said Nami after everyone had left.

"Yay, lets go," said Vanna as she followed Nami into the town.

On one of the buildings by the docks, two marines were watching the _Sky Pirates_ arrive.

"They're already here," said one marine.

"We'd better go and tell Captain Smoker," answered the other as the both ran off. 

Zoro, Percy and Isaac had made their way to a weapons shop and Zoro told the shopkeeper that he only had 100,000 beli that he had borrowed from Nami before going into town. After talking to the shopkeeper for a while Zoro then goes to the barrel of katanas worth 50,000 beli while Percy and Isaac looked around the shop. Walking out of the shop after talking with the shopkeeper for a while, Zoro now had a cursed blade as well as another high-grade katana, having gotten both for free from the shopkeeper.

"Well I got what I came for. We should head to the execution platform," said Zoro to Percy and Isaac before walking off towards the platform.

"Sure thing," they both said before following. 

Sanji, Isabel and Sheldon were walking through the market when Sanji stopped to admire a rather strange fish. The fish was quite large and had a long nose and horns like an elephant. After buying the whole fish, he and Sheldon carry it towards the ship. They meet Gin, Usopp, Miriam, and Titus as well as Nami and Vanna back at the ships and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. 

After a little while Sanji noticed a hooded man riding on a lion coming towards the ships. The man was singing.

"Riding on my Richie bike. Who's that you ask? It's me," sang the man.

"Now then, I'm supposed to burn the boy's ship but which one is it?" asked the man out loud as he got off the lion and scratched his head.

"So you're here to burn down our ships?" asked Sanji who was now behind the man with the lion.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen. Luffy would probably be pretty upset if he came back and all his ships were destroyed," said Sanji as he jumped in the air and kicked the man into his lion sending them flying back into town.

"Sanji who was that?" asked Nami as she leaned her arms on the guardrail of the _Gyrfalcon_.

"Just someone that wanted to destroy our ships but I've dealt with them Nami-chan," said Sanji with hearts in his eyes.

"Good but can you go into town and get the boys it seems that a big storm is coming," said Nami as she looked at the sky.

"Of course my love," said Sanji as he ran back into town. 

Luffy, who had appeared on the execution platform, was taking in the view the Pirate King had before he died. He didn't notice the commotion going on in the square below. By the time Luffy looked down, the Buggy Pirates had taken over the square.

"Hello Luffy, do you remember me?" asked a woman standing with the Buggy Pirates.

"Huh? Who are you?" asked Luffy tilting his head to the side.

"It's me Lady Alvida. I've joined up with Buggy to find you," answered Lady Alvida

"Hey big nose, what's going on?" asked Luffy as he waved to Buggy, ignoring Alvida.

"WHO HAS A BIG RED NOSE? CABAJI DO IT NOW!" screamed Buggy.

Cabaji, who had made his way to the top of the tower without anyone noticing, was now standing behind Luffy. On Buggy's command, Cabaji tried to pin Luffy down with half of a wooden stock. The wooden stock passed right through him and he disappeared.

"DAMN IT CABAJI YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO USE THE SEASTONE STOCK," yelled Buggy.

"YOU NEVER TOLD ME HE COULD DO THAT," yelled Cabaji.

"I can do a lot more than that," said Luffy.

Appearing behind Cabaji, Luffy kicked him off of the platform.

"So you want to fight again Buggy? Didn't I beat you badly enough last time?" asked Luffy tilting his head to the side and still standing on the platform.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP," screamed Buggy.

While Buggy was screaming Luffy kicked out with his left foot and yelled _Correction Kick_. Appearing in front of Buggy and making him stop screaming in surprise, Luffy kicked him into the side of a nearby building.

"You are still as strong as ever Luffy," said Alvida with stars in her eyes.

"Who are you again?" asked Luffy, scratching his head.

"You still don't remember?" pouted Alvida.

"Nope… what the?" said Luffy as he looked down to see his left wrist had a sea stone handcuff on it.

When he turned around he saw that Buggy had crawled out of the building and was standing behind him.

"Hahaha, now you can't use that devil fruit of yours," laughed Buggy, holding the keys to the handcuffs.

"Hmm is guess this is why dad made me train my swordsmanship," thought Luffy as he unsheathed his saber.

"I may not have my devil fruit powers, but I don't think I really need them to beat all of you," said Luffy as he turned to face Buggy and his subordinates.

"CHARGE!" screamed Buggy as he stepped out of the way. 

There were twelve pirates coming at Luffy. Two pirates got to him first with their swords raised over their heads, both intending to slice him in half. Luffy avoided both blades with a small jump into the air. While in the air, Luffy spun around and slashed both their throats. He then kicked one of the dead pirates into another charging pirate, knocking him to the ground. He then held his saber with both hands on his right side, the tip of the blade pointing skyward and parried the sword of an attacker, moving his saber to his left side. Luffy then used the momentum from blocking the attack to change the angle of his blade so that the tip was nearly touching the ground and with an upward sweeping motion, Luffy put a gash from hip to shoulder in the pirate.

The attacking pirates stopped charging and were now wary of Luffy after seeing him killing three of their crewmates so easily. Luffy, turning to face them with his saber in his right hand, got into a crouching position, almost like a sprinter. He then concentrated his Color of Armaments Haki into his feet. The ground cracked under his feet as he ran at the nine remaining pirates. Luffy's speed increased so much so that he was now moving faster than any of the pirates could see. Running in a zigzag through the nine pirates that were grouped together, Luffy appeared on the other side of all of them and slid to a stop. As soon as he sheathed his saber, blood gushed out of the freshly inflicted wounds on all nine pirates. 

After watching twelve of his men killed in the blink of an eye, Buggy, his eight remaining men and Alvida stood with their mouths gaping open.

"If you hadn't taken my devil fruit away from me your men probably wouldn't have died but I guess that's your fault," said Luffy with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Luffy you are amazing," said Alvida with stars in her eyes.

"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON ALVIDA?" screamed Buggy.

"I'm going to have to take that key away from you," said Luffy as he got into his crouched position again.

"J-j-just try it. You s-should know b-better than to attack m-me with a sword," stuttered Buggy in fear.

"We'll see," said Luffy as he concentrated his Color of Armaments Haki into his feet again as well is into the blade of his saber, making the silver blade turn black.

Luffy then disappeared again.

Buggy looked around for him but couldn't see him at all. As Buggy turned he saw that one by one his remaining eight men were being killed, helpless against Luffy's onslaught. Luffy then appeared right in front of Buggy and sliced him across his chest and taking the key to the sea stone cuffs out of his hand.

"WAHHH!" screamed Buggy as blood sprayed from the wound. 

As Luffy was about to unlock the sea stone cuffs a voice shouted _WHITE BLOW_, and Luffy was sent sprawling across the ground. Sliding on his back, Luffy twisted his body so that he could get back on his feet while still sliding. Coming to a stop just before the execution platform, Luffy realized that he had let go of the key.

"Looks like you've made my job quite a bit easier," said the marine that had hit Luffy.

The marine is a muscular white haired man, whose defining characteristic is that he always smokes two cigars at once. He wears a large thick white and blue specialist Marine jacket that he keeps open with greenish fur lining the neck, wrists and hem. Cigars are strapped to the jacket which has justice written on the back. In his brown-gloved hand he holds a jute.

"And what exactly is your job?" asked Luffy angrily as blood dripped from the cut on his forehead due to the marine attacking him.

"I'm a marine, you're a pirate and I've heard from the higher ups that you're pretty dangerous," said the marine watching Luffy warily.

"Well how about I let you decide just how dangerous I am," said Luffy as he crouched down and concentrated is Color of Armaments Haki in his feet.

Luffy then took off towards the marine, causing cracks in the ground due to the force of his feet pushing off it. The marine, well trained, saw where Luffy was and swung his jute at him. Luffy sidestepped the attack, much to the marine's surprise, unsheathed his saber at the same time and slashed the marine in the chest.

Feeling no resistance from his strike, Luffy turned around to see that his sword and gone right through the marine and the marine's body was reforming.

"Looks like you ate a devil fruit and a logia one too. Who are you?" asked Luffy

"I'm Captain Smoker and I've eaten the Smoke Smoke fruit. My bosses said that you ate a logia as well but it looks like you will be at a disadvantage with that sea stone cuff on your wrist," said Smoker after taking a puff from both the cigars in his mouth.

"We'll see about that," said Luffy as he got into his crouched position again and this time concentrated his haki on his feet as well as the blade of his sword. 

Luffy then charged at Smoker, with his saber in his right hand and the tip of the blade pointing at the ground, he attacked with an upward swing that was blocked by Smoker's jute. They then went into a heated battle, exchanging blows with Luffy, having the advantage of haki, pushing Smoker back. After one particularly strong strike by Luffy, Smoker lost his balance. Seeing the opening, Luffy swung his sword at the marine captain's neck. Smoker was barely able to dodge the attack and was left with a gash on his cheek that was now dripping blood.

"You are quite skilled with that blade and it seems you are using haki since you are able to cut me," said Smoker wiping the blood from his cheek.

"You should see me when I'm not at a disadvantage," said Luffy with a smile as he concentrated more of his haki into his blade. 

While Smoker and Luffy were fighting, the marines had gathered in the square to deal with the Buggy pirates that Luffy had defeated. Zoro, Percy, and Isaac had finally made their way to the square but were pulled into an alley by Fitz who had Rufus and Jago with him.

"What are you doing? We should be fighting with Luffy," said Zoro as he tried to push past Fitz.

"We need to find the key to those sea stone cuffs but with all those marines around I haven't been able to get close enough to look for it," said Fitz with his hand on Zoro's shoulder.

"Ok then we need a distraction. Where do you think the key is?" asked Zoro as he tied his bandana.

"It fell somewhere behind Luffy so try and lead them away from that area. Oh and take Rufus with you I think he'll be able to create a rather large distraction," answered Fitz.

As Zoro, Percy, Isaac and Rufus ran out of the alley, Fitz and Jago went in the opposite direction so as to be in a good position once the marines were lead away.

As Zoro came to the outskirts of the square he turned to Rufus.

"I'm going to need you to make one of those craters again," said Zoro with his hand on Rufus' shoulder.

"No problem," said Rufus as he ran into the square. 

Pushing past a bunch of marines that had their backs turned, Rufus took off the dark purple glove on his right hand and punched the ground. The force of Rufus' punch sent a tremor through the ground and the impact caused the marines around him to go flying just before the crater appeared. Climbing out of the crater, Rufus turned around and looked at his handiwork while, without him knowing, marines were closing in on him.

_DEMON SLASH, _yelled Zoro as he appeared behind the marines that had intended to kill Rufus. After he sheathed his katanas and let out his breath the wounds that he inflicted on the marines started spraying blood.

"Wow, thanks Zoro," said Rufus seeing how Zoro saved his life.

"Don't worry about it, now, let's go," said Zoro as he pushed Rufus away from the square.

Turning to Luffy he yelled, "Captain we'll take care of these guys."

"Did he just say captain?" asked one marine.

"Those guys must be part of the _Sky Pirates_ crew. Tashigi go after them," yelled Smoker to a marine woman with blue hair and glasses who led the marines in the square after Zoro and Rufus. 

As Zoro and Rufus rounded a corner, the marines hot on their heels, Percy and Isaac came out and attacked the closest marines. Tashigi let her men go before her as she ran past the alleyway intending to cut Zoro off on the other side.

There were three marines coming at Percy and four attacking Isaac. Both of them had already unsheathed their weapons and began their attack.

Percy, holding his _Double Edged Staff_ in his right hand, thrust it into the first marine's gut. Pulling the weapon out of the marine's stomach, Percy then spun and cut the same marine's throat with the other blade. The other two, who were charging, had their swords above their heads and swung down at Percy, who blocked both attacks at the same. After a couple of seconds of the marines trying to overpower Percy, Percy simple separated the staff into two pieces, causing the two marines to fall forward. As they were falling Percy slashed the sides of their necks, effectively killing them both.

At the same time that Percy was fighting the three marines Isaac was fighting four.

Two marines charged at Isaac at the same time. With both his broad swords in his hands, he parried both attacks with ease. He then kicked one marine onto the ground and spun past the other, putting two deep cuts into his back on the way by. He then allowed the momentum of his spin to carry him towards the marine on the ground and stabbed him in the throat with his right hand blade. While he was crouched next to the marine he had just killed, another came at him. Isaac stabbed him in the stomach with his left hand blade just before the marine's blade cut his back. Then, removing his right hand blade and with an upward swing he stabbed the marine in the chin. Pulling both his blades out at the same time, he then spun past the marine he had just killed and swinging both blades at the same time chopped off the head of the last marine.

While Percy and Isaac held the marines off in the alleyway, Zoro and Rufus ran into Tashigi. 

"Your Roronoa Zoro aren't you. I'm going to defeat you. Evil men shouldn't be allowed to carry such high quality katanas," said Tashigi drawing her katana and charging at Zoro.

Zoro was quick to react. Using both blades he held in his hands to knock the katana out Tashigi's hands, he then had his mouth katana up against her throat but he hesitated. The woman before him had a striking resemblance to his childhood friend who had died. Zoro sheathed his three swords and looked at the woman.

"I can't fight you," was all he said as he and Rufus went running back to help Percy and Isaac, leaving the woman on her knees in shock.

Now that the marines were chasing after Zoro, Fitz and Jago had made their way to the opposite side of the square. There were around ten marines still lingering in the square that Fitz and Jago charged at.

Jago chopped the first marine he came to in the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. He then grabbed the wrist of a marine that was trying to cut him and threw him back with sheer power. Spinning on his left foot, he then delivered a devastating spin kick to the gut of another marine, sending him flying into his allies.

Fitz, who had spotted the key after knocking out a marine, said _Soru_ and ran for it. 

Luffy and Smoker, who were still locked in their battle, hadn't noticed Fitz and Jago.

Luffy charged at Smoker and slashed downward at him. The only thing that Smoker could do was block the attack, holding the jute with both hands above his head. Much to Smoker's surprise, Luffy's attack cut right through Smoker's jute and continued toward his face. Backing up at the last second, Smoker was left with a gash on his other cheek.

"Luffy here's the key," yelled Fitz taking the opportunity to throw it while Smoker was down.

"Thanks Fitz," said Luffy as he sheathed his saber and caught the key in his right hand.

As Luffy was about to unlock the sea stone handcuffs, Smoker yelled _WHITE BLOW, _sending Luffy flying past the execution platform and into the building behind it. Smoker then yelled _WHITE OUT, _as smoke began releasing from his body. A couple seconds later, Smoker had Fitz, Jago, Zoro, Rufus, Percy, and Isaac all trapped in his smoke and back in the square.

"You lot have caused quite a bit of trouble for me today but now you're all under arrest," said Smoker with a smile after puffing on his two cigars. 

"We'll see about that," said Luffy who had made his way out of the rubble, blood dripping down his face.

Concentrating his Color of Armament Haki into his leg, Luffy kicked out with the same leg and yelled, _CORRECTION KICK_. He then appeared right in front of Smoker and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying across the square and into a building on the other side. The kick caused Smoker to release his captives and they were standing up getting ready to fight again. As Luffy was about to go after Smoker again, Sanji came running into the square.

"Ahh, I figured something like this was happening but Nami-swan says we have to go, there is a huge storm coming this way," said Sanji.

"Alright everyone back to the ships," yelled Luffy as they ran for the docks. 

Once they got to the docks and everyone started boarding the ships, a cloaked man came out of an alley way and grabbed Luffy by the shoulder.

"Looks like I was right to teach you how to use that sword," said the man revealing his face to Luffy.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" asked Luffy in surprise.

"I need your help with something. Do you think you can leave your crew for a little while?" asked Dragon

"If it's for the revolutionary army then yea," said Luffy.

"Perfect. I'll be waiting over here." Said Dragon with a smile as he went back into the alley.

"Alright I'll go tell my crew," said Luffy as he disappeared. 

After reappearing on the _Gyrfalcon_ Luffy gathered them all together and told them that he would have to leave for a while.

"I'm going to leave Fitz and Zoro in charge while I'm gone," said Luffy.

"Where should we meet you?" asked Nami as she looked at her map.

"Is there another island before Reverse Mountain?" asked Luffy.

"There isn't one before we get there but it looks like there's an island we can get to if we pass by Reverse Mountain. There are no trade routes marked on this map so im guessing the island is uninhabited. The only problem is we would have to go through the Calm Belt to get there," Answered Nami pointing to the map that was placed on the deck.

"That's great because the marines think we are going to go to the Grand Line right away," said Fitz.

"Wait, you don't understand, it isn't possible to sail through the Calm Belt. There are no winds there and the sea kings use it as a nest," answered Nami.

"The Calm Belt won't be a problem. I'll drop you guys off there before I leave. Fitz and Zoro come with me for second," said Luffy as he, Zoro and Fitz walked over to the _Albatross_.

They walked over to the alley and Fitz immediately understood after seeing Dragon there. Zoro had no idea who the man standing before him was and waited for someone to explain what was going on. 

"Hello Fitz. It looks like your doing well," said Dragon with a smile.

"It's good to see you Sensei," said Fitz.

"Dad, I want you to meet Roronoa Zoro. He's going to become the greatest swordsman in the world," said Luffy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you are helping keep Luffy out of trouble," said Dragon.

"I'm trying my best but it's a pretty difficult task," answered Zoro with a smile.

"Dad is the leader of the revolutionary army and my trainer," said Luffy

"Luffy I thought I told you not to say that so freely," said Dragon with a small frown on his face.

"I know, I know, but I trust Zoro and I don't want to lie to him or the rest of my crew for that matter," answered Luffy.

"Ok as long as you trust them to keep the secret I don't see why it would be a problem," said Dragon.

"Great, Fitz you should tell the crew the whole story while I'm gone," said Luffy

"Of course, you don't want to keep such a big secret from your new family," said Dragon.

"That shouldn't be a problem. How long will Luffy be gone for?" asked Fitz turning to face Dragon again.

"Well it depends on him but it shouldn't take too long," answered Dragon as he began walking towards the _Albatross_

"Well then I guess we'll see you in a while Luffy," said Fitz

"Good luck Luffy," said Zoro as both he and Fitz made their way back to the _Gyrfalcon_

"Who's that cloaked man?" asked Usopp once Fitz and Zoro were back on the ship.

"I'll tell you the whole story once we get out to sea but for now I think we should hurry and leave before those marines catch up to us," said Fitz as he looked toward the town and saw hordes of marines running towards the ships.

"Alright then lets set sail," yelled Zoro as the _Gryfalcon_ followed by the _Osprey_ sailed off into the open ocean

"Won't they just follow us?" asked Nami.

"It's ok Nami-chan. I untied all their boats on the way back so I it will probably take them a while to even set sail," said Sanji with a smile.

The _Albatross _set sail at the same time and once all the ships were underway Luffy yelled, _AIR CONTROL_. Lifting all the ships off the water and into the air, Luffy sent them speeding to their destination. 

Back at the docks of Logue town, Smoker was watching the marines under his command scrabbling to get their ships under control. Looking at the bounty poster of Luffy that Smoker held in his right hand and touching the cut on his cheek with his left hand Smoker thought, "Looks like you are going to be a pain in my ass Monkey D. Luffy."

"What are your orders?" asked Tashigi as she came to stand beside Smoker.

"They'll be heading for the Grand Line from here so we'll just have to meet up with them and catch them there," answered Smoker after puffing on his two cigars.

"Yes Sir," said Tashigi as she ran off to rely the orders.

It wasn't long before Luffy dropped the _Gyrfalcon _and the _Osprey _onto the shores of the uninhabited island. Everyone looked back at the _Albatross _as it rose into the sky, hearing Luffy yell, "Lets go," just before it went flying away.

"So that was Luffy's father?" asked Usopp as the crew disembarked from both ships and onto the island.

"And he is the leader of the revolutionary army?" asked Gin following Usopp.

"That's right. Luffy and I wouldn't be considered revolutionists but we help out whenever Dragon asks," answered Fitz.

"How long did he say he would be gone?" asked Sanji

"We don't know," answered Zoro

"What exactly will we be doing on this island while Luffy is off being a revolutionist?" asked Nami somewhat put off be their captain leaving without them.

"After seeing how strong Smoker is, I started thinking that we might run into some more enemies like him once we are on the Grand Line. So I say we take the time that we are stranded here to train," answered Fitz.

"Luffy was able to cut Smoker right, but doesn't Smoker have a logia type power like Luffy's?" asked Zoro.

"That is true but there is a way to counter devil fruit abilities and it's called Haki. Luffy used it against Buggy as well and was able to cut him," answered Fitz

"And you can teach us this Haki?" asked Sanji.

"I'm not as adept as Luffy but I can teach you the basics, the only problem is everyone doesn't have it. Don't get your hopes up because it is very possible that none of you can use it," said Fitz 

As the captain-less commanders made their way onto the island with the subordinates following, they were being watched by something hiding in the forest.

The island wasn't very big and was covered in all kinds of vegetation.

As the crew walked through the forest, there was a rustling of leaves from somewhere around them.

"What was that?" whispered Usopp fearfully.

"I didn't hear anything," answered Nami

As they continued walking through the forest there were more sounds of rustling leaves following them.

"Alright you have to have heard that," whispered Usopp trying not to scare himself by talking too loud.

"I don't know what you are talking about," said Nami

"You're telling me that you didn't hear the sound of rustling leaves coming from that direction?" asked Usopp looking in the direction he was pointing and then stopping with his mouth open.

"From over th…." Asked Nami stopping in mid conversation as she looked in the direction Usopp was pointing.

Standing before them was a koala that was about seven feet tall and the size of a bear, munching on some leaves.

"W-w-what is t-that?" stuttered Usopp and Nami at the same time.

The koala bear just watched them with a blank expression on its face and continued eating.

"I'll protect you Nami," yelled Sanji he tried to jump kick the koala.

The koala simply swatted Sanji into a nearby tree and continued eating its leaves.

"Maybe if we just walk away from it, it will leave us alone," suggested Usopp as both he and Nami turned slowly and followed after the rest of the crew. Leaving Sanji behind. 

After walking a little they heard the leaves rustling again. They both turned around extremely slowly and came face to face with two oversized koala bears. Both koalas had a blank look on their faces and watched the two humans. After a little time of Usopp and Nami staying completely still, both koalas reached out their paws offering some of the leaves they were eating. Seeing the bears move Usopp and Nami took off running through the forest and back to the crew, who had found a clearing and were building shelters and getting fire pits made, screaming "AHHHHH."

So the _Sky Pirates _stayed on the island training and waiting for their captain to return. In the morning the commanders including Gin were taught Haki by Fitz and in the afternoon the commanders would train their subordinates. For lunch Fitz, Zoro, Gin and Sanji would go out to sea on one of the lifeboats from the _Osprey. _Because the island was on the Calm Belt, Fitz had to transform into his hybrid gargoyle form and push the boat through the water. Once they had aroused the suspicions of the sea kings, causing them to surface, the four of them would attack. After they killed a sea king Fitz would fly the body back to the island while the other three continued to fight. Through this method, the four of them came back at noon, having already done their Haki training, with loads of sea king meat for lunch.

The days past by slowly and the Haki training was even more arduous. Zoro was the closest out of everyone in grasping one of the two forms because there were times when he cut through stone and afterwards he would say it felt like cutting through butter. Those times were few and far between and the rest of the commanders were nowhere near as far along as Zoro.

After their morning Haki training, the commanders would oversee their subordinates training. Fitz had Jago and Rufus sparring with each other. Before each sparring session Fitz would make sure that Rufus was wearing his gloves to keep Jago from being pulverized. With Rufus unable to use his devil fruit ability the sparring sessions were one sided in the favor of Jago, who was quite a bit bigger and faster than Rufus.

Zoro was also having Percy and Isaac spar and their sessions were more even than Rufus' and Jago's. Percy was overmatch by Isaac's brute strength but was able to keep up due to his speed advantage. Although Percy was faster then Isaac, Isaac was still winning about 60% of the matches by overpowering Percy, who wasn't fast enough to overcome the power difference.

Usopp was having Titus and Miriam practice shooting at moving targets. Both were excellent marksmen from long distance but when they moved into close range, Miriam was more effective than Titus by a large margin, showing off her accuracy and deadliness with her throwing knives by hitting almost every target dead center. Titus was also quite good with his pistols but lacked the overwhelming speed in taking out targets that Miriam displayed.

Sanji made Sheldon and Isabel spar with their hands tied behind their backs, preaching to both of them that a cook should never injure their hands. It took a little while before both were able to effectively spar with their hands tied. The first few times ended with both losing their balance and looking quite foolish but it didn't take long for them to get the hang of it.

Most of the time Nami and Vanna would join in the training that Fitz was giving, seeing as Nami didn't specialize in any sort of combat.

Gin was doing some individual training but would sometimes spar with Zoro, Fitz and Sanji. After a couple of sessions with Zoro, Gin decided to only spar with Sanji and Fitz to avoid losing a limb.

After about three weeks of going through the same routine, Haki training in the morning, sea king hunting for lunch and subordinate training in the afternoon, everyone had made some progress.

Rufus was starting to win some of his sparring matches with Jago, Titus was catching up to Miriam in the close range category and Sheldon and Isabel were having heated sparring matches with their hands tied behind their backs. The only one that really didn't make any progress was Percy. He was still able to win a lot of matches against Isaac but Isaac was simply too strong for Percy to break into the majority. Vanna, through Fitz's tutelage, was becoming more and more adept at fighting with her spear, although it was hard because she refused to attack anyone, preferring to use her spear for self-defense.

Zoro was the first to show some evidence of Haki. When he was practicing cutting a large stone he told Fitz after that it was as if he could feel his spirit enveloping the blade making it sharper and more effective.

"Looks like you can use the Color of Armaments type Haki. That's the one that Luffy used to cut Smoker and Buggy. There are other ways to use it but keep working on imbuing it into your weapons. After you become proficient with that we can move on to the other uses," said Fitz after Zoro told him what had happened.

Sanji, soon after Zoro, showed a knack for the Color of Armaments type Haki when he kicked a large boulder and caused it to shatter.

"It seems like you've found the perfect use for your Armament type Haki. Keep working on that until you can do it every time and then I will show you a different use for it," said Fitz to Sanji after he saw him destroy the boulder with one kick.

Gin was the next to grasp the Armament type Haki but his was more of a fluke. While he was watching Usopp's training, a rare stray knife came flying towards his face. His reaction was to close his eyes and put his arms in front of his face. When he opened his eyes the knife was on the ground in front of him.

"Gin you just used Haki. You made a barrier without thinking to protect yourself from that knife. That is a more defensive use for the Armament type Haki. Try to practice that as much as possible but I would suggest staying away from Usopp's training when practicing," said Fitz after Gin told him what happened.

For Usopp and Nami it was a little bit harder. Fitz, judging by their personalities, decided that they would do a different kind of training from Zoro, Gin, and Sanji with the help of Rufus and Jago. The three of them would hide in the forest and throw pebbles at Usopp and Nami. The two of them would have to try and guess where the pebbles were coming from before they were thrown. It took some time but at the end of the three weeks there was one time when Fitz, Rufus and Jago threw handfuls of pebbles at Nami and Usopp. Nami and Usopp took one step and all of the pebbles flew past them.

"Like I thought you two have the Color of the Observer type Haki. You can tell when an attack is coming before it is even launched. There are some other uses of that type but for now we will keep practicing until you both are proficient at reading attacks," said Fitz after seeing Usopp and Nami dodge the barrage of pebbles.

After another week the _Albatross_ came flying towards the island with Luffy onboard, alone. Stopping the _Albatross_ by the _Gyrfalcon _and the_ Osprey_, Luffy disappeared and reappeared on the shore of the island and walked inland. After walking for a little while Luffy heard the leaves to his right rustling. Turning towards the sound he saw the oversized koala bear that Nami and Usopp had encountered. The koala had a blank look on its face and was just starred at Luffy while eating the leaves it held in its paws. Luffy, who had put a couple of racks of meat in his pockets, pulled out one rack and began eating, watching the koala bear with a blank expression.

"Why are we are we the ones that have to take this sea king meat back to the ships?" asked Usopp as he carried bundles of meat that he couldn't even see over.

"Because someone had to do it, the only place we can keep the meat without it going bad is on the ships and we just happened to draw the short straws," answered Nami as they made their way through the forest.

"And why do I have to carry all of it?" asked Usopp, barely avoiding a tree root that would have sent him sprawling had he tripped on it.

"Because you're straw was shorter than mine," answered Nami sticking out her tongue.

"I don't think mine was shorter, I think she just doesn't want to carry any of it," said Usopp under his breath.

They kept walking when Nami stopped suddenly, causing Usopp to run into her and almost drop all of the sea king meat.

"Look at that," said Nami, pointing to the reason for her sudden stop.

"What are you talking about?" asked Usopp as he put the meat on the ground.

"Oh, LUUU…" Usopp tried to yell out to Luffy but was stopped by Nami's hand covering his mouth.

"Shhhhh! Don't you see those monsters that are standing before him?" whispered Nami.

"WAAAHH," yelled Usopp as he hid behind Nami.

The scene before them was Luffy sitting in the middle of the forest facing three giant koala bears. One of the koala bears reached out its paw, offering Luffy some of its leaves. Luffy took the leaves, ripped off a piece of meat and handed it to the koala. Both of them ate the offerings at the same time but as soon as they put the food to their mouths they spit it out yelling "GAAAGH, THAT"S DISGUSTING" before putting some of the original food they were eating back in there mouths, to get the taste off their tongues. Through the whole process the other two koalas were rolling on the floor laughing.

"Wait a second. Are those koalas laughing?" asked Usopp watching the whole scene

"A better question is, did that koala just talk?" asked Nami.

Sensing Usopp and Nami behind him, Luffy turned around.

"Hey guys, do you want to meet my new friends?" asked Luffy with a huge smile on his face.

"These koala's are your friends?" asked Usopp as he and Nami walked over to Luffy.

"Yup, this is Kail, this is Kerl and that's Jeff," said Luffy pointing to each bear and ending on the one that had eaten the meat.

"Yo," said one.

"What's up?" said the other.

"What's going on?" asked Jeff as he munched on more leaves.

"Am I dreaming right now?" thought Usopp and Nami at the same time.

"They invited me to go and live in their village but the problem is these three are the only ones that can talk," said Luffy.

"THAT'S THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH THIS SCENERIO?" yelled Nami

"YOU COME BACK AFTER A MONTH AND THE FIRST TIME WE SEE YOU, YOU ARE TALKING TO KOALAS?" yelled Usopp.

"Pretty much. Also I need to become the Pirate King and I can't do that by staying here now can I," said Luffy with a smile.

"You're hopeless," both Nami and Usopp said at the same time hanging their heads

"Ok guys I have to go and see the rest of my crew. It was nice meeting you," said Luffy.

"Yup," said one.

"You too," said the other.

"It's been a pleasure," said Jeff as Luffy and Nami walked into the forest while Usopp was left to carry the sea king meat back to the ships.

Walking through the forest again it wasn't long before they came to the clearing where the subordinate training was in full swing.

"Luffy you're back," stated Fitz as he, Zoro, Sanji, and Gin walked over to Luffy and Nami.

"I see you guys have been using the time I've been away quite well," said Luffy as he greeted the commanders.

"Tell us what you've been doing for Dragon," said Gin.

"Unless it's top secret revolutionist business," added Sanji.

"Of course I'm going to tell. Anything that I do for Dragon you guys will be the first to know about it but I'd rather show you," said Luffy

"But first I need to go ask my new friends something," he said before disappearing.

"New friends?" asked Fitz

"Oh yeah, Luffy made friends with three giant talking koala bears as soon as he got to this island," said Nami.

"Oh, I see," said Fitz as he adjusted his glasses.

"None of you think that's a little strange?" asked Nami.

"Nope," said Zoro.

"Not at all," said Sanji.

"Not that I can see," said Gin.

"We all noticed them when we first arrived but we didn't know that they could talk," said Fitz.

"AM I THE ONLY SANE PERSON IN THIS CREW?" yelled Nami.

"Ok it looks like everything is good," said Luffy as he reappeared.

"Follow me to the shore," he said as he turned and started walking to the shore.

Once they were all at the shore Luffy told everyone, including the subordinates, to stand at the edge of the forest. Luffy then yelled AIR PROTECTION, before jumping into the water.

"I wonder what he's going to do," everyone thought watching the ripples from Luffy entering the water fade away.

It wasn't long before the island, along with the three ships, started to rise out of the sea and into the sky. The bottom of the island looked like a jagged upside down mountain with moss and algae all over it and Luffy floating at the peak, coaxing the island higher into the sky. The water underneath the rising island became rough, with high waves crashing moving through the sea. Usopp, who was still on the _Gyrfalcon_, was clinging to the mast for dear life as he watched the island along with the three ships rise higher and higher away from the sea.

Once the island was high enough in the sky that the ocean below couldn't be seen in the clouds, it stopped and Luffy reappeared in front of his crew.

"You just lifted an island into the sky," stated Zoro sporting a gaping mouth look similar to the rest of the crew.

"This is amazing but it's gotten really cold now that we are so high," said Fitz as he and the rest of the crew rubbed their arms with their hands.

"Oh yeah, I always forget about that part," said Luffy.

Holding out his hand he yelled, AIR HEATER, and then AIR PROTECTION. After he uttered those words a bubble encircled the whole island including the three ships and Usopp. The temperature began rising until it was similar to the temperature of the island while it was still on the sea.

"So you were doing this for your dad?" asked Sanji.

"Yeah. He needed me to raise a couple islands so that the revolutionary army would have a better hiding place from the world government, but that was the easy part," said Luffy.

"The easy part?" asked Gin

"Yup. The hard part was to create a ferry so that they could get on and off the islands. I had to make the air flow in a particular direction to support a certain weight and bring whatever would carry the revolutionists up to the island and then one on the other side of the island to bring them back down," said Luffy nonchalantly.

"But wont the islands fall back to the sea because you aren't there?" asked Nami.

"Nope. Anything I raise into the sky stays where I leave it unless I move it again. It's the barrier that I put around the island that keeps it in place, almost like a lock," answered Luffy.

"This is so cool," said Percy as he looked over the edge

"You're amazing captain," said Rufus as he admired Luffy's work.

When night came and Usopp was finally retrieved from the _Gyrfalcon_, the _Sky Pirates_ sat around a large fire and listened to the stories of the different kinds of islands Luffy raised.

The next day Luffy gathered everyone, while Fitz held the two devil fruits that they had found behind Arlong Park.

"The rule on my ships is if you find a devil fruit you get the decision of whether or not to eat before anyone else but considering that Fitz and Rufus found these two, we are going to have to decide a different way," said Luffy

"The fruit I hold in my left hand is a paramecia type devil fruit and will give the user the ability to create illusions, like a mirage. The one I hold in my left hand is a zoan type devil fruit and will give the user the ability to transform into a cat. After some time I have found that the type of cat is an ocelot or an ocelot-human hybrid. It will make you quite a bit faster as well. It's like the fruit that I ate but you will be able to transform into a different animal," said Fitz

"So I will give the commanders first choice as to whether or not they want to eat one of the fruits," said Luffy turning to the commanders.

After asking each of them and each of them responding with no, Luffy then turned to the subordinates.

Percy was the first to speak up.

"I would like to eat the zoan fruit," he said standing up and making eye contact with Luffy.

"Anyone else who would like to eat the zoan fruit?" asked Luffy.

After the remaining subordinates shook their heads, Luffy turned to Fitz and nodded.

"I just want to warn you that you will be unable to swim after eating this," said Fitz as he handed Percy a green banana with yellow zigzagging lines through it.

"I've never been a good swimmer anyways," said Percy before eating the whole thing in one bite.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that all devil fruits taste horrible," said Luffy after seeing the disgusted look on Percy's face.

"Ok now, who would like to eat the paramecia fruit?" asked Luffy while looking at each of them.

"I would," said Vanna as she timidly raised her hand.

"Does anyone else want to eat it?" asked Luffy.

When no one said anything, Luffy turned to Fitz and nodded.

"I will give you the same warning I gave Percy. You will be a hammer in the water if you eat this fruit," said Fitz as Vanna walked up to him.

"That's ok, I don't really enjoy swimming that much," said Vanna as she took the orange colored apple with green swirls out of Fitz's left hand.

Vanna ate it in one bite and had to fight back the urge to throw it back up due to the disgusting flavor.

"Ok, we should stay here a little longer so that Percy and Vanna can train with their new abilities. Everyone should continue training as well but first who wants to come with me to hunt some sea kings? I'm starving," said Luffy as he walked towards the ships followed by Fitz, Zoro, Sanji and Gin.

"Wait Luffy. I've got a great idea. Do you think you can take this island with us on our journey through the Grand Line?" asked Fitz.

"Yeah that's no problem, but I don't want to ride on it the whole time. But i'll bring it with us wherever we sail to," answered Luffy.

"But now seriously lets go hunt some sea king? I'm really hungry," whined Luffy as he flew the lifeboat from the _Gyrfalcon_, over to the island.

"Get on guys," said Luffy as he watched the four of them stepping into the lifeboat.

Luffy then made the lifeboat fly off the island and followed it. Luffy made sure to keep the boat steady so that nobody fell out. While Sanji and Gin were holding on for dear life, Zoro was looking over the edge and marveling at how far up they were while Fitz had taken out his book and was reading. Luffy was having the time of his life, having put his goggles on so that he could see everything as he plummeted to towards the sea. His white scarf billowed in the wind, as did his open, long-sleeved, black, button-up shirt. Nearing the sea, Luffy slowed the lifeboat to a leisurely pace. As soon as the small boat touched down on the water, giant sea kings started surfacing.

"Lets go guys," yelled Luffy as he jumped after a particularly large, giant sea king.

"Haha I'm glad he's back. It's much livelier around with him," said Zoro as he jumped onto a small sea king and ran and jumped until he was in a good position to attack the one Luffy had picked out.

"Indeed," smiled Fitz as he transformed and flew towards Luffy.

"All you guys are crazy," laughed Gin jumping after Zoro.

Sanji lit a cigarette and took a long pull. Breathing the smoke out he then stood and faced the direction the four of them had gone.

"OK LET'S JUST LEAVE THIS TINY ASS BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA WITH ALL THESE GIANT ASS SEA KINGS AROUND IT. THAT SEEMS LIKE A GREAT PLAN," yelled Sanji as he defended the boat from sea king attacks.

And so they spent the next couple days on the island Luffy had raised into the sky but the _Sky Pirates_ wouldn't stay for much longer. They were all itching for some sort of an adventure and Luffy hadn't become Pirate King yet. 

**And there you have it. I realize the giant koala bears may have been a bit much but they will play a role in the story as it moves forward and for some reason I just couldn't keep them out. Hope you all enjoyed and please review.**

**Until Next Time.**


	10. Unfamiliar Territory

**Well…I guess I shouldn't make excuses for the delay in chapter 10's release…suffice it to say that I have been extremely busy the past year. Enough about that please enjoy!**

**Unfamiliar Territory**

The Gyrfalcon, Osprey and Albatross were sailing smoothly through the calm belt with the help of Luffy's devil fruit ability. Keeping the three ships hovering just above the water, _The Sky Pirates_ were able to avoid constant sea king attacks and move through the calm belt with relative ease. Koala Island, as Luffy had dubbed it, was moving with the ships, floating a good distance above the sea, using cloud cover to keep its location hidden from prying eyes. The Sky Pirate commanders were relaxing aboard _The Gyrfalcon,_ while their subordinates occupied _The Osprey_, the crew mostly bored with the uneventful journey.

It was just before sunset, giving the ships a rather panoramic image.

Fitz was sitting down, leaning against the guardrail near the middle mast. He was reading again because no one was willing to lose in another game of cards. Zoro was fast asleep leaning against the middle mast, his three swords propped up against the wood and Nami was on the upper deck, checking the ship's direction every so often. Gin had grown fond of watching Usopp work on new inventions and was doing just that near the front of the ship.

"AAAAARRGGGH! WHO ATE ALL THE FOOD?" Sanji yelled, storming out of the kitchen.

"Food?" Luffy asked, the mere mention of the word able to wake him from his nap on the figurehead.

The teen disappeared from his position at the front of the ship and reappeared right in front of Sanji.

"WHOOOO AATEEEE…?" Sanji began to ask but was cut off by Luffy's sudden appearance, causing the cook to fall down backwards in surprise.

"I heard food. Is there food? I'm already hungry after raiding the refridgeratooooooo…"Luffy began to say before realizing who he was talking to.

"YOU DAMN AIR HEAD!" Sanji shouted before delivering a back kick to Luffy's stomach.

Luffy was sent careening across the ship, on course to smash into the middle mast. He quickly regained his senses just before reaching the mast and activated his devil fruit in order to avoid damaging the ship.

"Looks like you're getting pretty good with your Armament Haki," Fitz noticed as he stood up from his sitting position, putting the book he was reading in his back pocket and adjusting his glasses, coming over to where Sanji was standing.

"It seems to work better whenever Luffy's my target," Sanji replied, taking a long drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out in satisfaction.

"It seems to react well to your anger haha," laughed Fitz.

"I'm gonna have to be more careful around you guys now. I keep forgetting that you've learned it," Luffy said, a wide grin on his face, reappearing right back where he had been standing before.

"Can you guys shut up!?" Zoro mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Stupid Moss head, all you do is sleep, workout and get lost," Sanji challenged, fixing a burning stare on the Sky Pirate's swordsman.

"What did you just s…?" Zoro began to respond but was immediately cutoff by an earsplitting explosion from the front of the ship.

"What the hell was that!?" Nami yelled from the upper deck.

"That's got to be Usopp's new invention. Didn't he say he wanted to make some explosive bullets for his Trifecta?" Fitz asked and he didn't have to wait long for his answer.

"Damn it Usopp! Are you trying to kill me?" Gin argued as he walked towards the group.

"Well if you didn't bump my shoulder right in the middle of pouring than maybe that wouldn't have happened," retorted Usopp, walking next to Gin.

Both of them were now covered in soot. Usopp's hair was all pointing backwards and the only place without soot were his eyes where his goggles had been, giving him the appearance of a raccoon. Gin had managed to turn away and soot only covered his right side, almost as if a line had been drawn down the middle of his body.

"I'll give you both your punishments later. There's an island up ahead." Nami said pointing straight ahead.

"DAMN IT," yelled Gin, unhappy with the fact that he would be chastised along with Usopp but knowing better than to argue with Nami.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GOOOOOO!" Luffy yelled before manipulating the three ships to shoot towards the island.

"NOT AGAIN!" Everyone screamed knowing what would happen once they reached the island.

The ships flew towards the mystery island at an incomprehensible speed. Anyone watching from afar would believe himself or herself to be hallucinating.

"WAAAAAARGH I GART EEL I ACE (I can't feel my face)," Usopp shouted his voice barely carrying over the deafening roar of the wind.

Every one of the Sky Pirates, aside from Fitz, who was reading against the upper deck guardrail, facing the opposite direction, had their cheeks pinned back near their ears and looks of terror graced each of their faces.

The subordinates aboard the Osprey were in a similar situation, each of them trying desperately to keep their hold on anything that would keep them from flying into the ocean.

Just as soon as the terror began, the ships reached the island and Luffy stopped them on a dime right before the coast. Everyone was thrown forward due to the sudden stop. Usopp hit the main mast in a spread eagle position. Gin followed close behind but was flying sideways and smashed into the small of Usopp's back. Zoro came flying in afterwards but had somehow managed to flip his body in the air so that his feet were flying towards his two crewmates. Using Gin and Usopp as makeshift springboard, Zoro avoided smashing into the mast and landed softly on the deck below.

Nami was sent flying off the upper deck and just before she hit the guardrail, on the other side of the ship, Sanji threw himself between her and the guardrail screaming, "I WILL PROTEC…ARRRRRGH!" Sanji's body acted as a pillow, cushioning the blow for Nami but crushing his stomach in the process.

Fitz followed close behind but just before he was about to collide with Nami and Sanji, he called out _GEPPO,_ kicking off the air and landing lightly on the deck.

The subordinates were in a similar situation but luckily were able to avoid any full on collisions and landed on the coast, skidding to a stop on the beach. Fitz was the first of the commanders to set foot on the beach

"DAMN IT LUFFY! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THAT EVERYTIME?" Zoro screamed, rage evident on his face as he jumped off the ship, landing easily on the coast next to Luffy.

Sanji and Nami followed closely behind Zoro, each giving Luffy an earful about the responsibilities of a captain protecting the ladies on his crew and something about compensation. Luffy tilted his head to the side, giving the duo a questioning look, as though he didn't speak their language. Gin and Usopp were the last of the commanders to touch ground on the beach and Usopp had seen better days. He was still in extreme pain from the mast hitting a rather sensitive area and needed Gin's help to get off the ship.

"Luffy, you should move the ships up with Koala Island. Wouldn't want anything to happen to them while we're here," Fitz suggested, adjusting his glasses in the process and providing the perfect distraction from the crew's griping.

"Good idea," Luffy replied as he held out his hand and said **AIR CONTROL.**

As soon as the words left his mouth, the three ships started moving of their own accord, rising higher and higher, into the sky until they were covered by clouds. Luffy brought them within Koala Island's air lock to keep them from crashing back to the ground.

After dealing with the ships, Luffy turned to face the center of the island and his eyes grew wide as he took in the surroundings.

"WOOOOW! I've never seen anything like that before," Luffy exclaimed his jaw dropping as he focused on the giant mountain that he was, for some reason, just noticing.

It was really something to behold and the biggest mountain any of the crew had ever seen. The peak stretched high into the sky and wasn't visible due to it being higher than the surrounding clouds, while the base of the mountain seemed to be taking up the entire island. There was a small layer of forestation just after the coastline but the base of the mountain was easily visible through the thinly arrayed trees.

"That's really incredible!" Fitz agreed, excitement seeping into his voice.

"How high up does it go?" Usopp asked, using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked towards the peak.

"LUFFY!" Percy shouted as he and the rest of the subordinates ran towards their commanders. "There are Marines on this island. We saw a ship just down the coast over there and it looks like they're coming this way," he continued, pointing in the direction they had just been.

"Why don't you just lift us all in the air?" Rufus suggested, the rest of the crew, aside from the fighters, agreeing with the 16 year old.

"Isn't this the perfect opportunity for Vanna to get some practice in?" Luffy asked, causing everyone to turn and look at her.

Despite her 21 years of age making her one of the oldest on the crew, Vanna had a very shy personality, and was never comfortable being put on the spot. She looked towards Nami for some help.

"Don't worry, just do it like you practiced," Nami said giving the girl a smile and trying to instill confidence in her subordinate.

"O-okay. I n-need everyone to g-group together," Vanna answered shyly, feeling more self-assured.

"Alright Vanna, go ahead and do it," Luffy said.

"Ok, here it goes…**GROUND LEVEL," **Vanna said while holding both of her hands out in front of her body, fingers spread wide.

The air around her hands began to distort slightly and a ripple seemed to move outward from her palms, enveloping the air around the crew.

**((WITH THE MARINES))**

"Oh man! Vice-Admiral Woosk is going to be really happy with this one," one of the marines said, sporting a huge smile.

"You're telling me. There should be a feast tonight. She wasn't easy to catch," the other responded.

The two Marines were walking along the beach, en route to the path that would take them further towards the center of the island. They were carrying a sea stone net and inside the net was a girl, roughly 17 years of age.

"I hate having to go this way though. The Captains aren't exactly my favorite people in the world. We have to go through at least one of their nests to get to the testing facility and it's definitely not a place I would willingly spend my time," the marine on the left pouted.

"Why can't we just take her in the front?" the other asked.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you recently joined this contingent. We need to keep up appearances. If we were bringing them in through the front then those weekly inspections would find something the Vice-Admiral doesn't want them to find. It's way safer this way," The elder Marine responded.

"Huh? What's that?" the younger marine asked.

At that moment the two were walking right by Vanna's illusion.

"What's wrong with you? You know we're in the calm belt right? There's no way anyone other than Marines could be on this island," the elder scolded.

"I guess you're right. I need to get more sleep. Things are looking a little blurry to my eyes," the other responded, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

The two continued on their way until they came to a small clearing in the trees. Turning into the clearing, the two disappeared from view.

"Good work Vanna! They didn't notice a thing," Luffy said praising the girl with a pat on the head as he walked forward, stopping just before the tree line, sizing up the giant mountain.

"Luffy what do you want to do about this? It sounds like they're using this island as some sort of testing facility and they were carrying a girl with them," Fitz asked, adjusting his glasses, a rather serious look making its way to his face.

"Well we should go in there and bust them out!" Luffy concluded and began walking in the direction the Marines had gone.

"Whoa whoa, hold up a second," Sanji said having come out of the forest.

"How did you get there?" Luffy asked tilting his head to the side.

"There was a lady in distress! So I followed them but they went into a tunnel of some kind and the entrance closed before I could get to them," Sanji responded, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Hey Fitz, did you notice? This whole island is being monitored," Nami said pointing to a den den mushi she had noticed, sitting up in a tree at the edge of the forest.

"I did and Luffy's straightforward way of thinking might not be too bad on this occasion but we still need more information before breaking down the front door," Fitz answered moving to stand by Luffy.

"Well, wouldn't it be best to take out the den den mushi's?" Zoro asked scanning the forest with his eyes.

"Alright moss ball, how do you plan to go about getting them?" Sanji asked after exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Cut them up! Go stand in the forest so I can get started," Zoro threatened and unsheathing one of his blades, a deadly look made its way into his eyes.

"Alright! I got them. Nami, what should we do with them?" asked Luffy who suddenly appeared between Zoro and Sanji with an armful of mini den den mushi's, dropping them on the sand.

Everyone in the crew stood, mouths gaping open, obviously still struggling to get used to Luffy's disappearing acts.

"O-okay Usopp, do you think you can make some modifications to these?" Nami asked picking up one of the little snails and tossing it to Usopp.

"What did you have in mind?" the sniper asked, holding the snail up to his face to get a better look.

The snails were extremely small, about the size of a nail head.

"I want a way to keep in contact with everyone," Nami said.

"Alright, I think I have an idea of what to do. Titus, Miriam, can you both give me a hand? Also I'll need to get up to the ship. All my tools are up there," Usopp responded, pointing up into the sky.

"Okay Luffy, take them up and stay with them until the modifications are finished. We'll need you to distribute them once they're ready. You'll be able to locate us right?" Fitz asked, looking over at his Captain.

"It shouldn't be a problem. My Observation haki is at that level. Ok let's go," Luffy said before using his devil fruit ability to lift Usopp, Titus and Miriam, along with himself, into the sky towards Koala Island.

"And in the meantime?" Gin asked, twirling his tonfas in his hands.

"We should be able to move freely throughout the island without drawing too much attention so let's go check out that entrance those marines carried the girl to," said Fitz getting unanimous agreement from commanders and subordinates alike, before heading towards the greenery.

**((IN THE MARINE BASE: STEAM ROOM))**

A Marine came sprinting down the hall, pushing his way through a group of his comrades to get to the steam room.

The base had been built inside the mountain and the hallways were constructed in a circular shape to maximize space, often causing a spot of dizziness for those that had not grown accustomed to the winding halls.

Such was the case with the aforementioned Marine.

Reaching the steam room and opening the door hurriedly, the Marine quickly became disoriented by the massive quantity of steam within the room and promptly slipped and slid across the slick floor, slamming into the wall and barely missing the lone man in the room.

The Marine groggily stood to his feet and, unable to discern the location of the man due to the thick steam, he turned towards where he thought him to be.

"Vice Admiral Woosk!" The Marine said, saluting at the same time. "There are reports of our surveillance system suddenly going dark, pointing to intruders on the island. How would you like to proceed, Sir?"

"Firstly, Lieutenant, the steam room is a sacred place for rest and relaxation, therefore, as I have stated on multiple occasions, I am not a Vice-Admiral while surrounded by these luxurious walls. Secondly…I am over here," Vice-Admiral Woosk responded from the opposite corner of the room to where the Lieutenant was saluting towards.

"My apologies, sir," the Marine responded while quickly turning to face the direction of the voice.

"Thirdly, there are 5 captains stationed on this rock. Go bother them with your morbid talk of intruders. I still have 20 minutes to go in here," the Vice-Admiral responded.

"Y-yes, Sir," the Marine Lieutenant said and quickly turned to walk out the door.

"Fourthly, Lieutenant…the door is over there," Woosk said, failing to realize that the steam was too thick for the Lieutenant to see where he was pointing.

"I can't see where you are pointing sir. I'll just feel my way out using the walls. I need to inform the Captains," the Lieutenant responded.

"Firstly, Lieutenant, the steam room is a sacred place. Secondly, we do not touch…oh, he's gone," Woosk realized, feeling somewhat dejected at being ignored.

**((WITH THE SKY PIRATES ON THE ISLAND))** _

"Eyebrows! I thought you said you knew where you were going," Zoro said, scolding the cook for leading them to nowhere in particular for the past hour.

"You, of all people, telling me off…I'll never understand how your brain works under all that moss," Sanji retorted, turning towards the swordsman and coming face to face, their noses a hair's breadth apart, sparks flying.

"Boys, fighting amongst ourselves is the last thing we need right now," Nami said nonchalantly but it produced the necessary effect to break the two up.

"AS YOU WISH NAMI-SWAAAAAAN!" Sanji sang before diving towards the navigator with the intention of embracing and kissing her. Nami ducked out of the way and Sanji's lips planted firmly against Jago's left cheek.

"Fitz, is it alright if I hit him?" Jago asked in a complete monotone.

A short nod from Fitz was all Jago needed and, drawing his right arm back; he delivered a crushing sucker punch to Sanji's stomach. The cook, who had yet to open his eyes, was sent flying up above the trees, before landing a short distance away near the base of the mountain, all the while yelling, "NAMI'S PUNCH OF LOVE IS SOO HOT!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Zoro laughed but quickly stopped once he saw the greedy look in Nami's eyes, contemplating payment for his earlier fight with Sanji.

"HA-Ha-ha ahhhh…damn it," Zoro said as he grudgingly went off to get Sanji who would most likely be caught in some sick, romantic fantasy.

"I'll let you off this time Jago," was all Nami said in regards to Jago hitting Sanji in the stomach.

"Oh Nami-Swan, your punch of love has led me straight to the mountains entrance," called Sanji, causing Nami to slap her hand against her forehead, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How come our commander had to be an idiot?" Isabell asked, directing her question at Sheldon.

"It seems to me that this is a crew full of idiots," Sheldon responded, in the lowest whisper possible, not wanting to turn Nami's wrath on himself.

"A crew of stupidly powerful idiots doesn't sound too bad," Isaac said as he walked past the two chefs, Percy on his right, walking after the rest of the crew.

The two cooks smiled slightly before following after Isaac and Percy.

"Hey Percy, can you change into your ocelot form for me?" Isabell asked putting on the most innocent look she could muster.

"No! I've had enough of you treating me like a pet. Throwing me all over the place and I can't do anything back without Sanji flipping out," Percy retorted as they all came to the place where Sanji landed.

"I'll be nice. I promise," Isabell said

"The not-so-secret entrance is right here!" Sanji said as he ushered the crew towards its location.

"Good going Jago. We might have been searching all day," Gin whispered to Jago causing the normally emotionless 19 year old to crack a small smile.

The secret entrance to the Marine base was cut out of the mountain and well hidden by the surplus of vines that grew all along its base. The entrance was built into the rock face and, even after moving the vines to the side; there was no obvious way to open the solid stone door.

"Everyone out of the way," Zoro said, unsheathing two of his blades and walking towards the blocked off entrance.

The crew complied, shuffling out of Zoro's range.

"Ah Zoro, I found a lever here that's probably…" began Rufus, trying to point out his discovery only to be cut off as Zoro began his attack.

**TWO SWORD STYLE: ROLLING RHINO**, yelled Zoro standing completely still for a moment as a white light gleamed across his blades, a clear indication to Zoro's grasp of armament haki.

Taking one step forward, he swung his arms to the left, causing his body to start spinning. Rotating 720 degrees, Zoro stopped and sheathed his blades as the dust that had been kicked up from his attack settled back to the ground. Just as the hilt of his swords hit their sheaths, 4 white hot slices appeared in the shape of a square causing a chunk of the mountain, along with the vines, to fall towards Zoro, hitting the ground and revealing a dark passageway.

"Who needs doors anyways," Rufus stated choosing not to mention his discovery of the lever that was obviously there to open the door that Zoro had just sliced out of the mountainside.

"Ok, here's the plan. I'll head in with Zoro, Percy, Isaac, Jago and Rufus. The rest of you stay here until Luffy returns. Nami, have Luffy find us once you get your den den mushies. After we get ours, I'll update you all on the situation and we can go from there." Fitz said before nodding to Zoro, Percy, Isaac, Jago and Rufus as an indication for them to follow him into the mountain.

A ways up the mountainside, unbeknownst to the remaining Sky Pirates, a panel in the side of the mountain slid open and a Marine peered down the rock face.

**((WITH FITZ, ZORO AND THEIR SUBORDINATES))**

The tunnel was big enough for two people to walk side by side and, as it was Zoro and Fitz were in the front, Percy and Jago came after and Rufus and Isaac behind them.

"You guys make sure to stay behind me. Since eating my devil fruit I've been able to see clearly in the dark," Fitz said as he led the group through the passage.

"Man it's dark in here," Rufus complained, walking with his hands outstretched and trying to feel his way through passage.

"What did you expect? We're inside of a mountain right now," Isaac responded walking in a similar manner to Rufus.

"It doesn't hurt to be a little optimistic Isaac. Right Jago," Rufus said looking for Jago to back him up.

"No," Jago replied in the monotonous tone of voice that had become somewhat of a trademark.

"Hey! Rufus, focus on where you're walking. You keep stepping on the back of my heels," Percy said.

"What are talking about? I'm not even walking behind you," Rufus replied.

"Sorry. That's me," Isaac said in an apologetic tone.

"Stop, there's something ahead," Fitz said, stopping on a dime and putting his left hand on Zoro's shoulder to signal him causing the group behind them to fall to the ground in a heap due to the sudden stop.

"You could give us a little warning before you do something like that," Percy said irritation ebbing its way into his voice as he stood to his feet.

"Agreed," said Jago.

Isaac and Rufus were too busy trying to untangle themselves in the dark to say anything.

"It looks like the passageway splits into two just ahead. Rufus and Jago, you both come with me and we'll take the left side passage. Zoro, Isaac and Percy…you guys take the right side.

"Waaaaaiiiiit a minute! You want Zoro to lead us? He doesn't even know how to go places that he's already been to," Isaac complained.

"Yeah yeah, come on Fitz. Let me lead the way," Percy chimed in.

"I don't want to hear another word out of you two. Let's go," Zoro growled. The killer intent emanated a menacing aura around the swordsmen despite the darkness and the two subordinates fell silent and obediently followed behind their commander.

"Ok guys. Make sure you stay close behind me. There's something dangerous up ahead," Fitz said as he led Jago and Rufus through the left side passageway.

"We're right behind you…hey…w-what? The walls are all sticky…this is gross," Rufus complained and turning to wipe his hands on the first thing he could find which happened to be Jago.

"Are you guys still with me?" Fitz asked becoming a little concerned by the lack of noise behind him.

"WAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!" Rufus yelled as he went careening down the passageway courtesy of one of Jago's kicks.

"Damn it Jago. What was that for?" Fitz asked his subordinate.

"He wiped the grossness on my arm," Jago responded his voice still void of emotion.

Fitz shook his head and continued down the path to look for Rufus. As they walked Fitz could make out a faint scurrying sound just up ahead.

"Rufus. Where are you?" Fitz asked.

"Over here," came the reply, a short distance ahead.

"I'm stuck on this wall."

Fitz and Jago moved through the passageway until they reached the source of the voice.

Jago's kick had sent Rufus flying into what, at first glance, appeared to be a very sticky wall and Rufus was now stuck half way up it.

"I can't get down," Rufus said as he struggled to release himself.

"Just hold still for a second," Fitz replied as he formed his gargoyle tail.

In a flash of movement, Fitz used the spike at the end of his tail to slice Rufus off of the wall. After Rufus fell to the ground, a warm gust of wind shot through the passageway.

"What the hell was that?" Rufus asked, picking himself up and trying to regain his senses in the dark

There was a rustling, squishy sound that made its way to the Sky Pirates' ears.

"Oh my! You've taken away my prey. What shall I do with you?" a silky smooth female voice asked, the owner of the voice located at the top of the cave.

"Rufus take off your gloves," Fitz said then turning to look at Jago, "Jago be … I see you're as observant as always."

Jago already had his fists up, looking directly at the spider lady, as though he could see through the darkness.

"My decorations are also ruined. Your punishment just doubled. I'll take my time draining you," the zoan devil fruit user said jumping from her position on the ceiling down towards Fitz, Rufus and Jago.

**((MEANWHILE))**

"Damn it Zoro! That's the fourth time," Isaac complained picking himself up from the ground having fallen after running into Percy and Zoro as the passageway turned sharply to the left.

"How the hell am was supposed to know that the passageway had turns in it," Zoro fumed standing to his feet and dusting himself off.

"It's almost like they're laughing at us," Percy said before transforming into his hybrid ocelot form. "Zoro let me lead, I can see pretty well in the dark."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Never mind that. Lets go," Percy beginning to walk past Zoro before freezing as he felt a hand grab his tail.

"Isaac let go of my tail. NOW!" Percy yelled spinning and swiping a paw at Isaac who was barely able to dodge.

"Whoa, ok ok, I get it the tails off limits. Lead the way Mr. Sensitive." Isaac said somewhat upset by Percy's behavior.

Percy continued moving, making sure to keep his tail out of both Zoro and Isaac's reach, calling out whenever the path changed directions, making their progress much faster. It wasn't long before Percy led Zoro and Isaac into a high ceilinged chamber, a faint buzzing sound filing the room along with a sweet aroma.

"That's honey," Isaac observed.

"I don't like this. Swords up," Zoro said drawing two of his swords, Isaac and Percy following suit, Percy remaining in his hybrid form.

"The buzzing's getting closer." Percy said, his ocelot hearing picking up the increase of vibrations.

"Percy, Isaac, get behind me and stand three and a half feet apart from me and each other. We're going to make a gauntlet. I'll take down as many of whatever is coming and if any get through you take them out. Isaac, be sure to pick off any stragglers. Keep your attacks short. We don't want to compromise our position," Zoro said as the trio got into position, the buzzing sound growing ever louder.

"Damn it! Why do I get the bitch position? I'm barely going to get to kill anything," Isaac pouted taking up his position the furthest down the tunnel.

"Wait do you hear that?" Percy asked.

"No," Isaac replied.

"Exactly. They're in the room," Zoro said, placing his third sword in his mouth.

The sudden silence lasted ten seconds before the buzzing began again, this time right on top of them, as a swarm of bees came flying towards them, stingers at the ready.

**There you go. Hopefully it was enjoyable. I'll try to put the next installment up a little faster **

**Let me know what you thought**


End file.
